Why CBN flagged Aisha Buhari’s social media post on Naira notes as fake news
The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has warned the public to disregard a statement circulating on social media suggesting that the Apex Bank has extended the validity period for the old N500 and N1000 notes contrary to the directive of President Muhammadu Buhari that only the N200 note remains legal tended till April 2023.
The CBN said the statement, which has since gone viral after it was shared on the social media accounts of Aisha Buhari – wife of the President, is fake.
The statement which was credited to the CBN and purportedly signed by Osita Nwanisobi, CBN’s Director of Corporate Communications, read:
“Due to the current and unpleasant situation happening in Nigeria, In line with Mr. president. After having a closed meeting with him on the 20th of February, 2023, Central Bank Of Nigeria (CBN) has been directed to ONLY reissue and recirculate the old N200, N500 and N1000 banknotes and this is expected to circulate as legal tender for 70 days up to May 1, 2023. Members of the public should therefore continue to spend the old notes.
Media practitioners are advised to PLEASE spread out this helpful information to the public.”
In a statement posted on its official Twitter handle flagging the statement as fake news the CBN said:
“The attention of the Central Bank of Nigeria has been drawn to some fake and unauthorized messages quoting the CB as having authorized the Deposit Money Banks to collect the old N500 and N1,000 Banknotes. For the avoidance of doubt, and in line with Mr. President’s broadcast of February 16, 2023, the CB has been directed to ONLY reissue and recirculate the old N200 banknotes and this is expected to circulate as legal tender for 60 days up to April 10, 2023,” read the CBN’s statement signed by Osita Nwanisobi, its Director of Corporate Communications.
The Apex bank advised members of the public to disregard any message and/or information not formally released by the Central Bank of Nigeria on this subject and urged media practitioners are advised to PLEASE verify any information from the correct sources before publication.
As at the time this report was published at 11:40 am, the post by Aisha Buhari which has been liked by more than 2,300 people is yet to be deleted by the President’s wife, several minutes after the CBN’s statement.
The President’s wife also posted the same message on her verified Facebook account, and it has garnered over a thousand comments, shared over 900 times and liked by more than 1800 people.
Despite comments on the Facebook post accusing Buhari’s wife of sharing a misleading information and asking her to take down the post, she is yet to delete the post.
Since the 2023 elections started in 2022, supporters of the major candidates have been caught in the web of sharing misleading information on social media.
Femi Fani-Kayode, a former Minister and a spokesperson of the APC presidential campaign council, was recently invited by the DSS over a misleading report he shared on social media alleging that Atiku Abubakar of the PDP was secretly meeting with some military officers to plan a coup d’état.
