The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), on Thursday, said that the new naira note is authentic and not bleaching as widely speculated in the public.

The Branch Controller of the apex bank in Abeokuta, Wahab Oseni, disclosed while addressing market men and women and other members of the public, at Kuto Market in Abeokuta, the Ogun State capital.

Oseni insisted that the news that the redesigned currency is bleaching is untrue while urging Nigerians not to entertain any fear about the durability of the notes.

He hinted that the newly designed notes are more durable than the old ones.

The Controller assured that the security features on the redesigned note would make it impossible for the criminal elements to manipulate the mint.

He said “The new notes are durable. It is not the texture that determines the durability but the security features on it. Something could have a very high texture and not be durable. This one is more durable than the previous one.

“We have several security features on the notes that may not be understood by the populace. On the issue of fake notes, CBN did not print fake new naira notes and none of the naira notes is bleaching. The circulated notes by CBN are authentic and one of the reasons for redesigning.

Oseni assured that the masterminds behind the circulation of the fake and bleaching new naira notes would be brought to book by the Department of Security Service (DSS) and other security agents.

“The notes printed by CBN do not bleach but you cannot actually know the minds of these criminals the DSS and other intelligence agencies are working on bringing these criminal elements to book just as they have done in the past.

“The other ones that people claim are bleaching are the handiwork of criminal elements. We have told them how to detect the ones that are not authentic. How to discover that a note is not the central bank’s money is that when you put your finger on the golden feature on it, it will bleach immediately.”

Oseni equally expressed the determination of the CBN to maintain the January 31 deadline to phase out the old naira notes.