Confusion from the scarcity of new naira nuts persists in Lagos

As the January 31st deadline for phasing out old naira notes in Nigeria remains two days, many Lagos residents do not know how and where to get new notes to make daily small transactions.

It was collected that most commercial banks are still not issuing new naira notes nor re-issuing the old notes at their automated machines (ATMs).

In view of this, many people go from one bank to another looking for where to withdraw money (even if it would be a small amount) from their ATMs, but in many banks this is in vain.

SUNDAY TRIBUNE observed in some parts of the metropolis, especially Abule-Egba, Ijaiye and Agege in both Ifako-Ijaiye and Agege local government areas in Lagos, that many bank customers were not only disappointed but also frustrated that they could not issue new naira banknotes getting from the automated banks Teller Machines (ATMs) in violation of CBN alleged directive and claim.

Our correspondent, who visited some banks on Saturday, including Zenith Bank and Eko Bank, both at Ijaiye bus stand, Guaranty Trust Bank and First Bank at U-Turn and Access Bank, noted that the banks were working to pay only the depositors of old Naira. received notes and not for other matters.

Their ATM galleries had no money – new or old notes.

It was only Eko Bank in that axis that had one of the ATMs of many installed there and dispensed new Naira notes while many people were queuing for their turn.

However, most banks require customers to show their old naira notes they wished to deposit to the bank guards before they are allowed to enter the banking halls to make their deposits.

They said they did not want their banks to be unnecessarily crowded with people unrelated to them as they opened their doors only to people who wanted to deposit their old naira notes and within a certain time frame.

They said the old naira notes are still legal tender until next Tuesday.

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Interestingly, many of the depositors came to banks to deposit as small as N2,000 or N3,000.

They said SUNDAY TRIBUNE that the amount was all the money they had at home and that they couldn’t risk losing their money no matter how small CBN’s deadline might be.

They said that only politicians and big business people at home or elsewhere outside the banks could have huge amounts of money as cash, not the impoverished Nigerians who are in the majority.

At Eko Bank, where only one ATM dispensed new banknotes and a maximum of N10,000 at a time, many people didn’t mind waiting many hours before their turn.

They told our reporter to just have some cash on hand, at least for small weekend expenses and especially if merchants don’t accept the old naira notes from them.