Osun microfinance bank officials flee as customers threaten to protest

Many clients of microfinance banks operating in Osun state have threatened to take to the streets to protest their inability to withdraw funds from their accounts.

At some of the microfinance banks our correspondent visited in Osogbo on Wednesday, many bank officials were absent as many customers waited endlessly for money to be withdrawn from their accounts.

Some clients claimed to be wage earners, who get their monthly salaries paid through their accounts with the microfinance banks.

The clients who spoke to our correspondent during visits to Olubasiri Microfinance, Ibuaje Microfinance and Osogbo Microfinance Banks – all based in the metropolitan city of Osogbo – threatened to protest if the situation continued.

In separate interviews with our correspondent, Radeke Gbadamonsi and Rafat Adelu, who have accounts at a microfinance bank in Osogbo, said they were unable to write off their accounts and called for immediate action by the relevant authorities.

Gbadamonsi, an event center worker in Osogbo, who said the money she wanted to withdraw was her January salary, went on to say, “I have been here since 9 am and they have yet to take care of me. They told me that cash to give me was not available. The office hour is almost over. If this continues, it will lead to serious protests. Some of their officials were scared after some people threatened to attack them. They sneaked out of the building.”

At all the banks visited, a handful of officials declined to comment on the situation and our correspondent referred them to the leadership of the National Association of Microfinance Banks in Osun State.

But an Osogbo microfinance bank official, speaking on condition of anonymity, 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 banks’ operations.

He said: “In the last three weeks, commercial banks that give us money to run have stopped doing that. Each of us microfinance bank operators have commercial banks that work with us to ensure that our operations run smoothly.

“But for the past three weeks those commercial banks have not given us any money. They told us that the CBN had ordered them not to give us any more money. In Osun here we have 22 microfinance banks and our officials met with CBN officials in the Osogbo branch of the Apex Bank and they told us that we cannot get money.

“They said we can only get money through some super PoS operators they put together. Imagine licensed microfinance banks getting money through PoS operators that are not licensed or regulated by anyone. Many of our officials did not come to work to avoid being attacked by our customers. That is the situation we are in.”

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

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

“It is true that most of our microfinance banks in Osun have collapsed due to lack of cash to pay customers. But I don’t want to comment any further. You can contact our national agency for more responses,” Lawal said.