The Bayelsa State Government has said that based on the Supreme Court ruling of March 3, the old naira notes of N500 and N1,000 will remain legal tender in the state till December 31.

Reacting to the protest by citizens and other Nigerians doing business in the state due to the suffering occasioned by the naira redesign policy of the federal government, the state government urged banks and business owners to obey the apex court ruling to ease the pains from Nigerians living in the state

The Commissioner for Information, Orientation and Strategy in the state, Ayibaina Duba, in a statement yesterday in Yenagoa, noted that the government understands the pains of residents, but called for calm.

"The Bayelsa State Government understands the pains of residents of the state following the implementation of the Central Bank of Nigeria's (CBN) naira redesign policy and the Supreme Court ruling on the old currency notes.

"The government thus urges residents to be calm and not engage in acts that could jeopardise the peace of the state.

"The government notes that on March 3, the Supreme Court ruled that the old notes, which had been phased out by the CBN, remained legal tender till December 31 this year.

"While the state government is not against the naira redesign policy of the federal government, it is, however, not comfortable with the method of its implementation, which has resulted in further hardship on people of the state, and indeed, the country.

"The government also calls on the CBN to take immediate steps to ease the burden of doing business in the state by making implementation of the policy less cumbersome," he said.