There has been an increased pressure on the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to extend the January 31 dateline for phasing out old N1,000, N500, and N200 notes. Relevant stakeholders are also saying the deadline is not possible because the new notes are nowhere to be found.
Governor Abdullahi Umar Ganduje of Kano State, the Northern Elders Forum (NEF), and the Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC), among others, have added their voices for the extension of time or outright cancellation of the policy until the country is ripe.
They made the call with barely three days to the January 31 deadline as people across the country have decried untold hardship over their inability to access the redesigned naira notes from the banking hall or the Automated Teller Machines (ATMs).
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ABN TV reports that some unscrupulous officials of the CBN and commercial banks are already conniving with touts to ‘sell’ the new notes to willing buyers.
For instance, in Damaturu, the Yobe State capital, cash speculators hanging around banks collect N11,000 of old notes in exchange for N10,000 new notes.
The situation is the same in Kano as some CBN officials allegedly took the new naira notes to various mosques and churches for distribution to POS operatives, who would in turn distribute the money to desperate citizens who want to get rid of their old notes.
One of the POS operators, Kabiru Isiaku, said, “We were asked to go the mosque in our area in Hotoro and I was among the first set of people to be there.
“We were told they would come with N10million to share for us. We waited until around noon. And when they shared around N700,000, they said we should go to mosque and come back later; and when we returned, we discovered that they had left. The whole thing is a racket,” he said.
Another trader in Hadejia, Jigawa State, Sajo Aliyu, said, “It is an outright violation of what is expected. Of course, they have brought something like mobile banking to exchange the monies, but when you go with N300,000 they would only give you N10,000 of new notes and leave you with N290,000 of old notes. I don’t understand what is happening,” he said.
At the 20th edition of the Daily Trust Dialogue on Thursday, a professor of Political Science and member, Governing Board, Centre for Democracy and Development (CDD), Jibrin Ibrahim, said the ambitious CBN would continue to face challenges.
He said the Nigerian Security Printing and Minting facility did not have the capacity to meet the currency needs of Nigeria, hence the paucity of funds in banking halls and ATMs.
ABN TV learnt from credible sources that although the CBN wants to reduce the over N3trillion in circulation to about N1trn, they were able to produce only about N200billion new notes so far.
Visits to various ATMs in Abia, Imo, Abuja, Lagos indicates long queues where the naira is available.
ABN TV observed that most of the ATMs in the state were out of cash before noon during a visit to Umuahia, Aba, and Owerri.
Banks also witnessed crowds of customers who wanted to deposit old notes. Most banking halls in the city were crowded as customers rushed to beat the January 31 deadline.
A staff of one of the banks confided in our correspondent that they didn’t have new naira notes to load in the machine as instructed by the CBN.
“We can’t put old notes on the machine because of sanctions from the CBN,” he said.
A businessman, Kayode Adeoye, who said he needed cash to embark on a journey to Ibadan, lamented, “We are in a pathetic situation in this country. I couldn’t get cash in the bank and at PoS operators. I am supposed to go to Ibadan to see my family for the weekend,” he said.
ABN TV observed that most shop owners have stopped collecting old notes, thereby turning back potential customers. The old notes were also rejected by commercial bus drivers.
Similarly, a number of ATMs within the Kaduna metropolis have been besieged by customers in an attempt to withdraw the new naira notes ahead of the deadline.
Our correspondent gathered that scarcity of the new notes is causing undue hardship on customers, who have to spend many hours on the queue to withdraw money, while some end up not withdrawing as the money loaded in the machine is exhausted.
Some of the banks visited were congested as customers were seen frantically trying to deposit their old naira notes. This, our correspondent gathered, presented an opportunity for bank officials to take advantage of desperate customers.
A customer in one of the banks visited told our correspondent that officials in some banks refused to change the old notes until they were given bribe.
Muhammad Garba said he was at the bank yesterday to change his old notes of N1. 8 million but was asked to pay N60,000 by officials of the bank before his money would be changed.
He said he had no option but to pay the money for fear of losing his money since the deadline was only days away.
