New Telegraph

Naira Redesign: Long walk to relief after much pains

The naira redesign policy of the Federal Government has left in its wake pains and deaths. For some Nigerians, it’s a time to smile to the bank. LADESOPE LADELOKUN writes on the effects of the policy on Nigerians

For a great number of Nigerians, the recent directive issued by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to commercial banks to dispense and receive the old N200, N500, N1000 bank notes came as a soothing balm to halt reported agonies, frustration and deaths connected to accessing cash across Nigeria. The bank’s directive came on the back of a Supreme Court ruling that the CBN must extend the use of the old banknotes until 31st December. In his February 16 broadcast, President Mohammadu Buhari, disclosed that for a smooth transition, he approved that the redesigned banknotes should circulate concurrently with the old bank notes, till 31 January 2023, before the old notes, ceased to be legal tender. Buhari added that owing to the systemic and human difficulties encountered during implementation and in response to the appeal of all citizens, an extension of ten days was authorized till February 10, 2023, for the completion of the process. Following the hues and cries the policy triggered owing to limited access to cash, protests erupted in different parts of the country. On February 8, following a suit brought by three states challenging the currency policy, the Supreme Court had given an order restraining the CBN from enforcing the deadline for the phasing out of the N200, N500, and N1000 notes pending the hearing of the lawsuit. Also, on March 3, the Supreme Court ruled that the CBN must extend the use of old banknotes until December 31, owing to the hardship precipitated by the policy. The apex court knocked President Buhari for disobeying its interim order of February 8, allowing the old naira notes of N200, N500 and N1,000 denominations to be in circulation. In a unanimous judgment delivered by Justice Emmanuel Agim, on behalf of the seven-member panel of Justices of the Court, it held that the president exhibited and took disobedience to another level with his broadcast of February 16 in which he allowed the N200 notes alone. Meanwhile, about 11 days after the March 3 judgment of the Supreme Court, the CBN , through its acting spokesperson, Isa Abdul- Mumin, issued a statement confirming its acceptance of the Supreme Court judgment that permits the old naira notes to remain legal tender till December 31. “In compliance with the established tradition of obedience to court orders and sustenance of the Rule of Law Principle that characterized the government of President Muhammadu Buhari, and by extension, the operations of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), as a regulator, Deposit Money Banks operating in Nigeria have been directed to comply with the Supreme Court ruling of March 3, 2023,” the statement said. “Accordingly, the CBN met with the Bankers’ Committee and has directed that the old N200, N500 and N1000 banknotes remain legal tender alongside the redesigned banknotes till December 31, 2023,” the statement read in part. With the commencement of payment of the old N200,N500 and N1,000 notes and their acceptance by traders, transporters and other players in the informal sector of the economy that had hitherto rejected them, many Nigerians heaved a sigh of relief. However, with tales of what is deemed abysmally low withdrawal limits at banks, some Nigerians still have anger etched on their faces and tales of lamentation songs as they struggle to get cash. With her oblong face inscribed in her hijab at about 3:20 pm, it was not difficult to read frustration and hopelessness on her visage. According to the First Bank customer, who simply gave her name as Halimat in the Mowe area of Ogun State, it was her second straight day at the bank after the directive of the CBN without luck. “Today is another wasted day for me. I’ve not been able to get cash since yesterday.Obviously, I’m going home again today without cash,” she told Sunday Telegraph. At Jaiz Bank on the Allen Avenue area of Ikeja, the situation was not different as a long queue of customers was seen on Thursday. Findings by our correspondent revealed that Jaiz Bank customers could withdraw as much as N20,000 while customers from other banks could only withdraw N2,000. Meanwhile, a young man was seen beside the ATM machine with multiple Jaiz Bank ATM cards. For customers from other banks, who cannot withdraw more than N2,000, he is a source of succour. Our correspondent asked the young man what it would cost to use his ATM card for a N10,000 withdrawal and he simply said N1,000.

Nigerian govs Vs CBN, Buhari

In response to the order of President Buhari allowing just the old N200 in circulation despite a restraining order by the Supreme Court to maintain the status quo, the Kaduna State Governor, Malam Nasir El-Rufai, described the action of the president as “ a disobedience to the Supreme Court Order.” Contrary to the order of the president, the governor had asked citizens of the state to continue using the old naira notes. “It is also quite revealing that the Federal Government and its agencies not only disobeyed the February 8 ruling by continuing to say the February 10 deadline stands. It is shocking to see the blatant violation of the subsisting and continuing order of the Supreme Court that all the old and new notes should continue to be legal tender until it gives judgment in the case filed by the Kaduna State Government along with several others. “The address by the President earlier this morning limiting the legal tender status of old notes to only N200 amounts to total disregard and disobedience of the ruling of February 8, which was extended further yesterday by the Supreme Court. The misguided action of the Attorney-General to mislead the President into engaging in this public violation of the order of the highest court of the land shows how desperate the policy architects are to cause national chaos, by showing open contempt for the judiciary.” For his part, Ogun State Governor, Dapo Abiodun, warned against refusal of old notes, threatening to deal with offenders . He said: “I am hereby sounding a note of warning to every merchant, trader, banker, and petrol station that is refusing old naira notes. “If you’re reported to me, I will deal with you to the fullest extent of the law.” “The Supreme Court of Nigeria is the highest court in the land. “It has been ruled that the deadline for spending the old naira notes has been moved to December 31, 2023.

“Any fuel station, supermarket, or bank that refuses to accept it will be locked down. “Old naira notes remain legal tender

It’s a blessing as I made a lot of money – POS Agent

A Point of Sale agent with multiple outlets in the Ikorodu area of Lagos, Bola Ayeni, has narrated how the hardship caused by Nigeria’s naira redesign policy has been a blessing in disguise for her business despite the lamentation about scarcity of the Naira. According to her, at a time people still had huge stacks the old notes, she encouraged them to deposit money with her with a charge of N2,000 per N10,000 and they brought their money in millions. “At a time people did not know what they would do with their old money, I simply made use of the information I have to my advantage. Many of them felt their old money was already useless and the good thing about it was the fact that my competitors had not seen the opportunities to make money from the ignorance of people when I was making cool money.They even prayed for me for making their money useful to them and informed their neighbours about what I was doing. Before my colleagues started what I was doing, I had made a considerable amount of money. “The banks said they would not collect more than N500,000 from a customer and they could not deposit more than once. Apart from exhausting all the opportunities with my four different accounts and I still used accounts owned by my husband , brother and children.”.

Why Nigerians may still experience more pains

In spite of the directive by the CBN to banks to begin disbursements of old N500 and N1,000 notes, respite may not come the way of Nigerians as quickly as expected. According to bank officials, who spoke in confidence with Sunday Telegraph, old notes currently disbursed by banks are no longer available in large quantity and what is currently available is still not enough to go round. For example, in chat with a GTBank official, who chose to be anonymous, the official told Sunday Telegraph that the old notes paid by “are the ones with cash management not the CBN”. He explained that there may not be an end in sight to the current scarcity until banks have enough cash and restrictions on withdrawal limits are lifted, stating that his could not give more than N10,000 to a customer at the Marina branch of the bank. Meanwhile, a national newspaper ( not Sunday Telegraph) had quoted sources close to the CBN as saying that the apex bank might not release the old notes in its custody to banks anytime soon, adding that should the CBN release the old notes, it might amount to reversing the gains achieved on the cashless policy. Findings by Sunday Telegraph revealed that, inside Redemption Camp, Mowe, Ogun State 10Access, UBA, Zenith banks and PTB did not pay more than N5,000 to customers as of 12:00 pm on Wednesday. At the the First Bank branch in Mowe,Ogun State, customers could only get N5,000 despite the long queues seen.

How fuel station managers are profiting from pains, frustrations

At Satellite fuel station, Mowe bus stop, Ogun State, our correspondent posed as a customer in need of cash.

See the conversation below:

Sunday Telegraph: Abeg, I need cash Fuel Attendant:

There is cash but you need to be patient. Sunday Telegraph: Why?

You are not attending to anyone. Fuel Attendant: Yes, but I have to be sure the manager is not looking in my direction.

Sunday Telegraph: So,what will happen if he sees you? Fuel Attendant: There will be trouble. He doesn’t allow it. He is a POS agent. He wants the money made here to be diverted to his business. Sunday Telegraph: Oh! Fuel Attendant: Yes. So, let the attendant there attend to you. She has the POS machine. But you’ll have to move out of this place after using the POS machine. Just wait for me in front of this station (beside the bread seller) Sunday Telegraph: Okay Fuel Attendant: How much do you need? Sunday Telegraph: N5,000 Fuel Attendant: You can only get 4,000 and the charge is N500. Sunday Telegraph: Okay Meanwhile, at Highway fuel station on Ofada road, fuel attendants and the manager appeared to be business partners. While the attendants charge N100 per N1,000 withdrawal, an attendant revealed to Sunday Telegraph that the owner must not know about their POS business. Meanwhile, findings by Sunday Telegraph revealed that regular POS agents in the same neighborhood charge between N1,000 to N1,500 on every N5,000 ,making fuel stations preferable options.

Cashless Policy: Questions about digital infrastructure Felix Ibe deals

in foodstuffs in the Arigbawonwo area of Ogun State. Like other businesses that have gone cashless, Ibe accepts electronic transfer of money for transactions made. Confiding in Sunday Telegraph, Ibe revealed that on two occasions, monies transferred to his account had returned to the owners days after each transaction took place despite being notified that the transactions were successful transactions. Sharing a similar experience on his timeline on Facebook, journalist and public affairs commentator, Dayo Williams, wrote: “I have a strong opinion that the Nigerian banking system does not have the necessary digital infrastructure and perhaps the requisite manpower to midwife the country’s leap into cashless transactions. “I did a basic transaction three days ago; transferred the agreed amount to the neighbourhood retailer. I got a debit alert from my bank. She confirmed receipt of the said amount via her bank app. I then took my leave. “To my amazement, however, this afternoon, I got a reversal of the said amount from the woman’s bank account back to my account as a credit alert. “I bet there’s no way the woman will know the amount has left her account unless she takes a diligent auditing of the history of transactions on the account meticulously. The woman has been my saving grace in the neighbourhood for petty transactions since the naira confiscation of the Buhari regime started. “I had to save her account number on my phone at a point for easy transfers in the dead of the night when the volume of transactions is less as I presume. “Now, I have to go back to her this evening at the close of work to let her know about the reversal. And then make another payment. We are not ready yet. We do not have the infrastructure. Let’s not deceive ourselves.” Commenting, Akinnubi Bayo wrote: “If you know the number of ICT guys the banks have lost to the UK and other countries in the last two years, you will give kudos for them for still staying afloat at this moment. The network issue is alarming and I hope the banking sector will recruit and train more guys to bridge the gap in the coming months.”

What FG should do – Prof Uwaleke

In an interview monitored on AIT, Nigeria’s first Professor of Capital Market, Uche Uwaleke, expressed confidence that the old notes will soon live up to its major characteristic of acceptability, noting that once people know that they can withdraw and deposit the old notes in their banks, they would gradually regain their acceptability. He, however, urged the Federal Government to pay civil servants their March salary in cash to help increase the naira notes in circulation. Meanwhile, at an emergency Central Working Committee meeting in Abuja, last week, NLC President, Joe Ajaero, had given the Federal Government a seven-day ultimatum to address Naira scarcity or risk a nationwide industrial action. The NLC leader said: “First, it’s apparently difficult for us to assess the little money we have in banks and Nigerians are groaning. This is the same money they were asked to pay into the banks. “We are also aware that it’s difficult to get petroleum products and where you see it, a litre costs N350 in some parts of the country. “We will no longer be quiet about this issue of perennial fuel scarcity and arbitrary increase in prices. “On the issue of cash crunch, the NLC is giving the Federal Government, the agencies under it, including the CBN and other banking institutions seven working days to address it. If they fail to do it at the expiration of the seven working days, the Congress is directing all workers in the country to stay at home because it has become very difficult to access even N1,000 especially for traders who do not have bank accounts.” Ajaero also said the NLC discovered that even when banks give out old currencies, they can’t be spent,noting that even when they are taken back to the same banks, they’re not accepted. The NLC leader said it was no longer possible to keep quiet in the face of frustration.

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