Scarcity Of New Naira Notes: APC, Traders, Residents React

• Police target new currency hoarders in Lagos as traders, hotels, eateries reject old notes

•New naira notes scarce in Badagry, Ikorodu, others

•Banks disabling ATMs to avoid CBN sanction

THREE days to the expiration of the deadline for old N200, N500 and N1000 notes to become illegal tender and against widespread allegation that politicians have been mopping up the new naira notes through top bank executives who are their cronies, the Publicity Secretary of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Lagos State, Mr Seye Oladejo, has absolved his party of the allegation.

In a chat with Saturday Tribune,Oladejo said the CBN directives have no impact in terms of mobilisation of party faithful and voters, adding that the party was not in the business of influencing or inducing voters or buying votes with money.

He said: “As you know, the All Progressives Congress (APC), as a national and ruling party, has a structure that consists of very committed and loyal members who see the forthcoming elections as a national project.

“So, it is not a problem mobilising our members to go to the nooks and crannies of the state towards the elections. So, we are not worried about the scarcity or hoarding of the redesigned notes. It has not in any way affected our campaign or mobilisation of voters.

“As far as we are concerned, we have no problems. I think those that need to worry are the people who don’t have structures and the support of the people. Mobilising for logistics is not really an issue because we are in a familiar terrain but let me tell you, preparing for the next election starts as soon as we finished the last one.

“So, we won’t be caught unawares either by this development or any other development. We are not experiencing any hiccups at the moment and we don’t envisage any. Besides, we are not in the business of influencing voters with money or buying votes.

“If you have the structure and you have a government that has done well for the people, you should be in a position of strength.

“We are confident that we will win this election. All these challenges are really nothing for us to worry about.”

However, the police in the state have disclosed that those hoarding the newly-introduced bills in the state would be dealt with, as business owners and traders begin to reject the old notes.

Community leaders in the state also bemoaned the widespread scarcity of the new notes in their areas in separate interviews with Saturday Tribune.

Badly hit by the scarcity, according to chairmen of Community Development Committees, are major Lagos communities like Badagry, where banks are said to be non-existent and Ikorodu. They are two of the five major administrative divisions that make up the state. The five divisions with the IBILE acronym are Ikorodu, Badagry, Ikeja, Lagos Island and Epe.

Efforts to speak with the CDC chairman of Epe proved abortive but his Badagry and Ikorodu counterparts spoke of the pains of their people and expectations of government’s intervention before the deadline.

The state police command also threatened to take action against hoarding but claimed that they were yet to establish any case of hoarding in the state.

The police image maker in the state, Benjamin Hundeyin, speaking with Saturday Tribune, said: “We will step in if we establish any case of hoarding. We have not established any case of hoarding. If we do, we will do the right thing.”

Hundeyin, a Superintendent of Police, implored residents to report any case of hoarding of the new naira notes to the police.

Badagry, Ikorodu residents groan

Many residents in Badagry Local Government, according to the chairman of the Community Development Committee, Mr Ebenezer Kuponu, have neither seen nor possessed the redesigned-naira notes introduced by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).

Kuponu blamed the scarcity of the new bills on the absence of commercial banks in the Badagry axis, a situation which he said compels many residents and traders to depend on Point of Sales (PoS) agents.

He said: “I have not even seen the new naira notes since they were introduced. We live in the remotest part of Lagos State, so it is not surprising that anything relating to development and government policies gets to us late in Badagry.

“Another thing is that we don’t have banks in Badagry. The closest bank to us is located in Agbara. Whenever we have issues like failed or declined transaction or your money is trapped in the ATM, you have to journey from Badagry to Agbara to lodge your complaints with your banks, not minding the distance.

“This makes us patronise PoS agents. We deposit old naira notes to the PoS agents and in turn, they give old naira to us during cash withdrawal. This is one of the reasons the new notes have not been in circulation in Badagry. We keep recycling the old notes through the PoS agents. What we have are the old notes.

“Many of us, including traders, are in possession of the old naira notes which we use for transaction but I am hoping that before the January 31st deadline, we would have deposited whatever we have in the bank and then wait for what will follow.”

For residents and traders in Ikorodu Local Government not to be caught in the web of CBN’s deadline, the CDC chairman of the district, Alhaji Lukman Shonibare, disclosed that many of them are beginning to reject the old notes as instrument of payment for transactions.

He said: “The new notes are in circulation in Ikorodu but not everywhere. Many of the banks, through the ATMs, are now issuing the new notes; that I can confirm.

“A few days ago, I patronised a commercial bank and their ATM dispensed the new notes. I withdrew N20,000 and it dispensed the new N1,000 new notes.

“But many of the traders are operating using the old notes. This morning, I went to a market in Ogijo to buy groceries, I gave the trader a new N1,000 note but she gave me the old note as change. I wanted to reject it but I had a rethink and collected it.

“Throughout my journey to and fro Ogijo, every transaction I made was with the old notes. All the new notes I had on me were changed for old notes in the process of paying for goods and services. This is the topic of discussion. Traders in Ikorodu are now rejecting old naira notes and they are not getting the new notes.

“In my CDC, on Tuesday, the National Orientation Agency (NOA) state director was invited to enlighten the people on the new note. I read a circular release by the CBN that it was planning to go to the remotest parts of the state to start changing the old notes to new notes and banks will use the opportunity to open an account for the people.”

Banks disabling ATMs to avoid sanction

Saturday Tribune investigations showed that some commercial banks in the state are disabling their Automated Teller Machines (ATMs) to avoid dispensing old naira notes and risking punishment at the hands of the CBN, as they routinely claim shortage in the supply of new notes by the apex bank.

In the course of the week, the back-and-forth between banks and CBN became so intense that the regulatory institution dispatched its staff across the country to monitor ATMs and query banks that did not load new notes.

But even when the banks are discovered to have loaded old notes, there is no specific sanction mapped out for such erring lenders. Saturday Tribune learnt that the ATMs were disabled once words got out about the monitoring team.

The apex bank keeps claiming it has released sufficient new notes to banks, with most of the banks disputing the claim.

A bank teller at a commercial bank in Obalende who preferred anonymity told Saturday Tribune that the old notes were being dispensed because the few new notes available had been loaded in the ATM. According to her, the problem is that once the new notes are loaded, customers quickly exhaust them.

Long queues are also in banking halls, as customers struggle to deposit the old notes and get new ones. It was claimed that many people, including beggars, have started rejecting the old notes. Traders, eateries and hotels are also giving deadlines for rejection of the old notes.

For instance, a popular hotel located in Victoria Island conspicuously displayed a message indicating that it would accept the old notes as payment for food and accommodation “only until 26 January, 2023.”

Reacting to the development, the Chief Executive Officer, Centre for the Promotion of Private Enterprise (CPPE), Dr Muda Yusuf, accused the CBN of insufficient supply riddled with logistic problems. He, therefore, called for the extension of the deadline.

He said: “On the exchange of old currency notes for new ones, it is evident that the CBN has serious production and logistic limitations with regard to the new currency notes. The most realistic option is to extend the deadline. I am in agreement with the National Assembly on the call for an extension of the deadline.

“Otherwise there will be very serious business disruptions, especially within the SMEs space, the informal sector and the rural economy. Many innocent Nigerians will lose their hard-earned money.”

Market women

Market women at Asejere Market in Makoko and Sabo Market in Yaba also complained that ATMs in the area were still dispensing the old naira notes.

According to the Assistant Iya Oloja, Asejere Market, Memud Iyabo Ajoke, the women had not got enough supply of the new notes. She added that the traders had been longing to know more about the policy and its impact on their trades.

Responding, Deputy Director, Banking Services Department at the CBN, Mrs Josephine Ajala, told the women that their concerns would be addressed. Ajala, who led a sensitisation team from the CBN to the market, said the new policy would help control inflation, as it would bring the hoarded currency into the banking system, thereby making the monetary policy more effective.

“We believe that this exercise would help in increasing financial inclusion, moving towards a more cashless economy, and in ensuring greater formalisation of the Nigerian economy. We are taking stock to know those getting new notes and what they are disbursing or why they are not disbursing. We are monitoring to know whether the banks are hoarding, diverting or not even picking the new money.”

At another market in Lagos, the story is different. They are accepting the old notes despite the approaching deadline.

A survey by Saturday Tribune at the Oke Odo Market, one of the biggest food markets in Lagos, showed buyers and sellers transacting business with the old notes.

Many of the buyers and sellers at the market said that they spent what they had and collected what they were given as there seemed to be no alternative. Buyers particularly noted that at banks, ATMs and POS, they were still given old notes and that was what they spent.

A respondent, Mr Akinbami, explained that though he had some new notes, he would not spend them until he was sure that the old notes were out of circulation.

“The government is not serious about this deadline. If by now, even from the bank, I am still being given old notes, then I doubt the deadline will stand. Everywhere I turn, I am given the old notes as change, even when I give out new notes.

“So, I have decided that the few new notes I have left, I will not spend them,” Akinbami said.

He disclosed that nobody had rejected the old notes from him so far and he would not reject them as well.

Traders, on the other hand, believed that the deadline given by the CBN would not in any way affect their businesses, as people have to buy what they need one way or another.

Haruna, a pepper seller, told Saturday Tribune that if the government went ahead with the deadline, he would resort to digital payments for his goods.

He said: “Before now, some of my customers paid directly into my bank account which I even prefer because it eases the problem of carrying cash around. So, if the deadline stands, I doubt it would make any difference in my business. It, however, may bring a bit of discomfort for my customers who have old notes. Most of my customers who buy more than one basket of tomatoes know I prefer bank transfer. They also don’t like bringing lots of money to the market.”

Mrs Chimobi sells vegetables, stock fish, egusi, among others, at the market. She can be referred to as petty trader as her stall though filled with goods, sells in small quantities. She noted that if the deadline holds, her business would be affected if her customers bring old notes.

“I sell perishables. If I don’t make sales, my profit dips. Therefore, if people do not have the new notes to buy my goods, the value of my vegetables will go down,” she feared.

However, she explained that she planned to see how the deadline would play out so as to cut losses.

“The first week of February, I will reduce the perishables I buy and focus on the goods that have more shelf life, so that I don’t run into debt. Once I see that the new notes are fully in circulation, then I will restock,” she explained.

Dilemma of POS operators

A Point of Sales (PoS) operator in Ikosi-Ketu, Shola Aduke, described the issue of increased charges and limited cash due to CBN’s policy as a thorn in the flesh.

She explained that the limited cash constrained them on the amount to give to customers when requested.

According to her, the new guideline is a threat to the business.

A PoS operator in Ikeja area of Lagos, Tola Sholuyi, said she had been facing hurdles handing cash to customers as most are rejecting old notes.

Sholuyi, therefore, urged the CBN to increase the amount that can be collected via the ATM so that the new notes can be accessible to customers.

“I have been facing hurdles handing cash to customers as many people are rejecting the old notes, whereas what the banks give out are old notes.

“I therefore urge the CBN to increase the amount that can be collected via the ATM.”

Another operator, Tobi Showape, said the situation had been disturbing as the new notes were not accessible via the counter and the ATMs.

Tobi said the queues in the banks and ATMs to collect new notes were long and discouraging.

“The situation has been very disturbing as the new notes are not accessible via the counter and ATMs. The queues in the banks and ATMs for the collection of the new notes are long and discouraging. This makes cash unavailable as some customers are rejecting the old notes,” he said.

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