Business
UNCERTAINTY still persists around the cash swap among Lagos residents as the old bank notes which include N1000, N500 and N200 expire on Friday amid scarcity of the redesigned notes.
The situation became worse as many banks’ Automated Teller Machines (ATMs) were shut down in many parts of the metropolis, and worsened by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) silence.
Some of the Lagos residents who spoke with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) said they thought that the Supreme Court’s interim order which generated heated debates among Nigerians would ease the tension and restore normalcy.
NAN reports that the Supreme Court on Wednesday ordered a suspension of the deadline for the swapping of old to new Naira notes by the CBN.
The Supreme Court issued an interim injunction restraining the Federal Government from suspending the acceptance of the old Naira notes on Feb.10, deadline.
Kaduna, Zamfara, and Kogi states on Monday instituted a suit against the Federal Government at the Supreme Court over the scarcity of old and new Naira notes due to the CBN naira redesign policy.
A correspondent of the NAN who visited some markets, sales and business outlets and banks in Lagos, reported that frustration heightened as mobile money transfers were fluctuating due to bad network.
Some banks that were overcrowded with customers in some areas few days ago became almost empty.
Customers seen at some of the banks visited were not sure of the situation as they couldn’t get officials to explain update on the situation to them.
They were seen queuing at ATM boots, not because they were sure of getting money from their banks, but they were with the hope that the machines might later be loaded with cash.
According to them, they were on the queues to see if they could get money to withdraw for their daily use, especially as the weekend approaches.
Also, some business owners and traders in Ikotun Ilewe, Ejigbo and Ajao Estate markets,said they were not sure whether whether to open their shops for business or stay at home.
This, they noted was because they did not want to be caught having currencies that had cease to be legal tenders.
Those who were courageous to open for business lamented poor sales, while some saw the CBN cashless policy as a blessing in disguise.
Mrs Philomina Borokiri, a grain seller in Ikotun market, told NAN that sales had been very low, attributing it to the scarcity of naira notes.
“This CBN policy is really hitting us hard, partcularly we the traders because our transactions are always in cash.
“And now that the old Naira notes have expired, I have stopped collecting old notes from customers.
“A lot of sales came in today but all came with old notes, I told them I could only accept new notes.
“Since they didn’t have new notes and I have no bank account, those sales passed me by,” Borokiri said.
Another trader, Mr Ofonime Udo, spoke in the same vein.
“I am so frustrated as we speak, I have not sold anything since morning because customers came to buy with old notes.
“Government should please help us and make the new notes available for people to spend. We have goods to sell, but customers don’t have the legal tender to buy from us.
“This is so annoying, my neighbour had to trade his goods with me without using money,” he said.
However, Alhaja Rusikat Adedeji, who sells jewellery in Ilewe Market, said since the CBN pronouncement of cashless policy, that she had been making much sales.
“Many people in this market have account but they are afraid of receiving fake alerts. Also poor network and how they will go and queue in banks to collect cash are another barriers.
” I prefer that my money be paid into my account to that I can use it to buy my goods. This means that I will not need to travel with cash. All I’ll do is mobile money transfer.
“So far, I have been making good sales and my customers are also happy too,” she said.
Adedeji, therefore, appealed to the apex bank to make the new notes go round, saying the sufferings on people was frustrating.
Meanwhile, members of the Council of State have expressed support for the naira redesign policy of the CBN.
The council, however, asked the CBN Governor, Godwin Emefiele, to make new naira notes available or recirculate old notes to ease the suffering of Nigerians.
The meeting which held on Friday at the Presidential Villa, was presided over by President Muhammadu Buhari.(NAN)
KN
Tags: CBN President Muhammadu Buhari Supreme Court
