Bank halls empty as the naira scarcity increases

Banking halls in several commercial banks in Lagos, Osun, Ekiti and other parts of the country witnessed minimal activity as frustrated customers resorted to alternative ways of withdrawing cash following the scarcity of naira notes in the banks.

Checks by our correspondents revealed that while most bank halls were empty due to a lack of money in bank vaults, large crowds had formed outside some of the few banks rumored to be preparing to load their ATMs.

At the First Bank Plc branch on Ogunnusi road in Lagos, there were a few customers who argued with bank officials who had insisted that the branch was out of cash.

The story was similar at Ecobank, Zenith Bank, GTCO and Access Bank, all located close together along Ogunnusi road.

However, at Union Bank Plc, also located within the same axis, there was a good crowd of commuters pushing through the line hoping the bank would load its ATM.

One of our correspondents then continued on his way to Ojodu Grammar School, where he visited UBA and Access Bank.

At the United Bank for Africa, the ATM did not dispense cash and no payments were made over the counter.

A bank official, who spoke to our correspondent, said that due to a CBN directive, the bank was limited to paying denominations of less than N200 notes.

When our correspondent tried to withdraw money to collect the lower denominations, he was told that there was no money available, not even a thousand naira.

At Access Bank in the same area, there was no over-the-counter payment of any kind, while the ATMs did not go out.

A commuter, Emmanuel Collins, who spoke to our correspondent at Access Bank next to Ojodu Grammar School, said he just came out of his bank’s (UBA) banking hall.

He had pleaded to be paid every denomination they had at their disposal.

He said, ‘I went to my bank. They have no cash since yesterday. They said they don’t have N1000 and N500 notes. I asked them to pay me, even though it is N50 notes, but they didn’t have any.”

In the meantime, The PUNCH also noted that many clients of microfinance banks operating in Osun state threatened to storm the streets on Wednesday in protest at the lack of money to withdraw.

In some of the microfinance banks visited in Osogbo, many bank officials were off their seats as many customers waited endlessly for money to be withdrawn from their accounts.

Some clients claimed to be wage earners, who often receive their monthly salaries through their accounts with microfinance banks.

The customers who spoke to our correspondent during visits to Olubasiri Microfinance, Ibuaje Microfinance and Osogbo Microfinance banks, all located in the metropolitan city of Osogbo, threatened to protest if the situation continued.

But an official of a microfinance bank in Osogbo, speaking under conditions, said the Central Bank of Nigeria’s refusal to include microfinance banks in its plan to replace old naira notes with new ones was responsible for the collapse of the activities of the banks. .

When the Chairman of the National Association of Microfinance Banks, Osun State Chapter, Mr. Tunde Lawal approached Mr. Tunde Lawal for comment, he confirmed the collapse of many of the banks’ operations, which he blamed on a lack of cash to pay customers.

However, he referred our correspondent to the group’s national leadership for further comment.

Also, a middle-aged woman pleaded with bank officials in Ado Ekiti, the capital of Ekiti state, on Wednesday to save her from death.

The bank customer had approached the cashiers at First Bank’s Opopogboro branch to withdraw N9,000 cash from the counter, but was told the maximum she could withdraw was N2,000.

All her pleas with the female cashier to help her get the N9,000 cash proved unsuccessful as the bank official insisted that this was the instruction bank customers had complied with.

This was so many bank customers, queuing at the ATMs in the various banks in the capital, handing out up to N20,000, groaning, saying that they left their cases and other important things to spend their precious time in the queue.

ICPC supervises exercises

Agents from the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offenses Commission arrived at two banks in Bauchi state on Tuesday to monitor the disbursement of cash as the agency noted the operation would spread nationwide.

Our correspondent understood that the operation, which is still ongoing, was being carried out by a joint task force made up of operatives from the ICPC and its anti-corruption sister organization, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, and CBN staffers.

Speaking to our correspondent on Wednesday, a top ICPC official said: “Yesterday, Tuesday, agents from the Bauchi State office commission joined the task force alongside CBN staff and agents from the EFCC, to provide oversight. hold on the payment of new banknotes. by some commercial banks in the city of Bauchi.

Meanwhile, ICPC on Tuesday arrested an Abuja woman, Oluwadarasimi Emma, ​​with the Twitter handle @SimisolaGold and Twitter name Simisola or Lala, for offering new naira notes on social media.

The arrest was the result of intelligence received that led the ICPC agents to track down and immediately arrest the suspect.

Anti-graft agency spokesperson Ms. Azuka Ogugua revealed this in a statement obtained by our correspondent on Wednesday night.

Ogugua said, “Oluwadarasimi Emma, ​​a social media “serial entrepreneur” who is involved in skin care, fuel sales, facilitating foreign travel through visa acquisitions and other businesses, seized the opportunity of the scarcity of the new naira notes to openly market the new notes.

“It is believed to be colluding with key elements in the financial services industry to divert the newly released banknotes away from banking halls and payment channels into a ‘black market’.”

Ondo room responds

The Ondo State Chambers of Commerce, Industry, Mines and Agriculture said on Tuesday that the implementation of the new naira policy introduced by the CBN was designed to drive small and medium-sized micro-enterprises and the common man out of business.

ONDOCCIMA spokesperson Adeboro Onibalusi lamented the hardship caused by the new policy and said in a statement that the policy was crumbling micro-small and medium-sized enterprises, adding that access to old and new banknotes had become difficult for business activities in the state.

Atiku speaks

People’s Democratic Party presidential candidate Atiku Abubakar has urged the Central Bank of Nigeria not to further extend the deadline for exchanging the old Naira banknotes.

Atiku also urged the CBN not to ignore the enemies and not to succumb to the current pressures it is experiencing.

Atiku made this known in a press release issued by his media agency on Wednesday, saying that there would be no further extension of the old-to-new exchange of the naira notes beyond Feb. 10, which is the purpose and objective of initiating the redesign of would destroy the currency.

The former vice president would prefer the top bank to review the measures taken to ensure the flawless flow of the new naira notes to ease the hardships faced by the Nigerian people, especially rural residents, who need cash in their day-to-day transactions.

He also said, “However, the CBN should be wary of the elite whose motive for clamoring for more extensions to the term of office of the old naira notes is sinister and far from altruistic. I fully support building a cashless economy and reducing the amount of cash in our economy.”

LCCI kicks

Meanwhile, the Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry has said that the CBN’s inability to properly plan and implement the phase-out of old naira notes has left many companies under great pressure.

In a statement signed by the director general, Chinyere Almona, the chamber noted that the new redesign of the naira had led to divergent reactions and feedback suggesting that related issues such as the phasing of old banknotes, withdrawal limit and the scarcity of new banknotes could affect businesses and social livelihoods more than intended.

The statement read in part: “With the launch of the redesigned Naira notes last December, expectations were high for the smooth transition to using the new notes for business transactions across the country.

“We regret to note that expectations have been subverted, business deals have been hampered and many are experiencing a loss of time and value. The central bank should inform the public about gray areas about the scarcity of the new naira banknotes, in addition to strengthening its policy implementation capacity. This is the minimum expectation in light of a currency crisis we are in.”

According to the statement, businesses should be affected by the expiry of the CBN currency management policy.

“While we support the move towards a cashless economy, the redesign of the naira and the phasing out of old notes could have been better planned and executed without difficulty for businesses and individuals,” the statement said.