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Fri, Mar

New Naira Notes: Anxiety Over Notes Scarcity As January 31st Deadline Uncertain

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Following the January 31st deadline by the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, to mope the old naira notes from circulation, there is anxiety amongst the public concerning the scarcity of the new naira note in circulation. Most Nigerians are expressing concern that the commercial banks have failed to comply with the CBN directive of issuing new notes to the general public through Automated Teller machines and ATMs. However, the commercial banks also expressed worries that the money has not been made readily available by the apex bank to the commercial banks for onward circulation.


Recall Vigil360 report on the CBN directive for the stoppage of old naira notes from circulation by January 31st after it
introduced the new naira notes of N200, N500, and N1000 denominations into the market.

On 23rd December, President Buhari and the CBN Governor unveiled the new Naira to Nigerians while it was deployed to the public on December 15, 2022, for onward circulation with a notice that the old notes would seize to be legal tender by January 31st, 2023. 

Surprisingly, Vigil360 learned that contrary to CBN directive and public expectation, the ATM machines from most commercial banks were still dispensing old currencies till this morning January, 11th, 2023. 

The Point of Sale, POS, agents were not left behind as they too were still issuing old currencies, saying the new notes has not been made available to them by the commercial banks. 

Despite the scarcity of the new notes, the apex bank has insisted that the January 31st deadline is still in force while advising Nigerians to deposit old currencies in their possession before they could run out of time. 

The apex bank warned that there will be no extension to the January 31st deadline, the CBN wrote on its Facebook page, “The current series of N200, N500 and N1,000 notes would remain legal tender until the deadline of January 31, 2023,”
Reacting to the realities on the ground, a Nigerian economist and Chief Executive Officer, Centre for Promotion of Private Enterprises, CPPE, Muda Yusuf, said the CBN had grossly underestimated what it takes to make currencies available across the country. 

Yusuf made this statement when he appeared as a guest on Arise Television on Monday morning. 

In his submission, he said, “The CBN should be a lot more sensitive to developments in the environment. Obviously, from what we can see, the evidence abounds everywhere; we are dealing with a situation of a capacity problem on the part of CBN, capacity in terms of the production of the new notes, and capacity with respect to logistics. 

“Obviously, the CBN has grossly underestimated what it takes to make these currencies available across the country. If we are getting these kinds of feedback and stories from cities such as Lagos, Port Harcourt, and Kano, What are we going to say about people in the more remote places in other States outside of these major cities? 

He added, “As I speak to you, I have not seen the new currency notes beyond what I see on the screen and things like that. Yet, we have practically just about three weeks to the deadline. This is clearly unrealistic, and I wonder if sometimes the CBN behaves as if they are on a different planet from where we are. This is obviously unrealistic; you see, the deadline is unrealistic. Frankly, I don’t understand what the rush is all about. I don’t know what they want to achieve.” 

Also, the Human Writers Association of Nigeria, HURIWA, queried the apex bank for failing to make available the new notes knowing fully that it is just three weeks to the deadline. 

HURIWA in a statement called on the Economic and Financial Crime Commission, EFCC to go after the currency hawkers and influential persons who have mopped up the new currencies to sabotage the government. 

It explained, “About three weeks after the release of the redesigned N200, N500, and N1,000 banknotes by the CBN, millions of Nigerians, even those in cities like Abuja, Lagos, Port Harcourt, Kano, and other places, are yet to see or touch the new naira notes. The situation is particularly worse in remote places and villages. 

“Whereas, black marketers, politicians, and expatriates continue to get access to crispy naira notes but deny millions of ordinary Nigerian bank depositors access to the new notes despite the approach of the deadline of January 31, 2023,” it said in a statement. 

Another financial expert, Dr. Anayochukwu Basil Chukwu of the Alex Ekwueme Federal University Ndufu-Alike, Ebonyi State, while speaking to Dailypost said the CBN was not prepared for the policy directions that they have set out to achieve. 

Dr. Chukwu explained that “The CBN is not prepared to do the needful. Their body language and policy direction have not been in favor of what they want to achieve. 

“Actually, they want to make sure that the economy is placed on a very good footing, but as it is, it is like they are not prepared for the policy directions that they have set out for themselves. 

He added, “I think there is a need for them to shift the deadline because, as it stands, most people, even those in urban areas, are yet to access the new naira notes, not to talk of those who are in the villages. 

“This policy, if they don’t shift or reverse it, will cause a lot of difficulties, especially for those who are not among the bankable communities because a lot of people are outside the banking sector.

 

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