Just a few days after the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) released the newly redesigned naira notes into circulation, there have been reports of counterfeit notes dotted across the nation which has prompted the CBN to release a document of the security features on the new notes.
In a recent viral video, a man disclosed that his wife who is a pos vendor received a counterfeit of the newly redesigned N1,000 naira note.
New Naira Note: How to know the original (legit) note and the counterfeit
Doyin Okupe Senate President
Ajaokuta Southern Kaduna ATMs Bvas Future Goat Amiya Katsina INEC pic.twitter.com/Kw7cuvvVDr— iam_musty (@MustaphaOlatu19) December 19, 2022
In his words,
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“Fake money is in town now, people should be very careful. My wife who is into pos, someone gave the fake N1,000 naira note to her and we don’t know who gave her the money, we later discovered that it is fake money”.
He therefore went ahead to place the fake note side by side with the original one to educate Nigerians on how to differentiate the fake from the original.
He disclosed that the original note has a gold label which is known as “KINEGRAM”, which has the image of 1,000 on it and the coat of arms, while the fake one does not have it.
In a bid to ensure that the citizens do not fall victim to the counterfeit newly designed notes in circulation, the CBN has released the security features of the new naira notes.
In the documents released by the Apex bank, the details and position of the security features on the new notes are highlighted for the citizens to take note of.
The newly designed N1,000 naira note has at least 23 features, the N500 naira note has 15 features, and the N200 naira note has 10 features.
Recall that during the release of the newly designed naira notes, it was faced with widespread rejections.
While some were unaware of the new notes, several others rejected the notes, stating that it would be very difficult to identify the fake ones.
Most businessmen and women are reportedly reluctant to accept the new notes as legal tender, as they have decided to stick with the old notes pending the deadline given by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to phase out the old notes.
Recall that CBN released the new notes which the CBN Governor Godwin Emefiele disclosed was a major milestone in the bank’s effort to solve the numerous challenges facing the management of the nation’s currency.
Meanwhile, director in charge of currency at the Central Bank of Nigeria, Ahmed Bello Umar has expressed worry over the low response by Nigerians and commercial banks towards the return of the old notes.