By Correspondents in Ilorin, Lokoja.
Residents of Ilorin, Kwara state capital on Friday, joined other Nigerians in other states of the federation to recount their woes in the unabated scarcity of new and old naira notes that hit the banking sector of the country for about two weeks running.
In separate interview with the Correspondent of The Reporters in Ilorin, they expressed displeasure over their inability to withdraw money for domestic use and business transactions as a result of the continued scarcity of both the new and the old naira notes.
They lamented the sour effects of the scarcity of the currency redesign policy to their social and economic livelihood and called on the federal government to bail them out of the complexity created by the scarcity of the currency.
Our Correspondent who visited some banks in the state capital on Friday observed that hundreds of customers were seen on long queue in banking halls and ATMs, looking pensive and dejected as they found it difficult to cash money.
Mrs Mariam Yusuf, who spoke said that she was so broke financially due her inability to withdraw her money in the bank that she resorted to cook two cups of rice to feed her family of five on Thursday and without essential ingredient.
“We just added pepper,salt and red oil
to the rice,cooked it and ate like that,” recalled.
Mr Tunde Gabriel said he borrowed money to board taxi cab to make withdrawal in one of the commercial banks but unable to do so despite the fact that he came to the banks as early as 5:30a.m on Friday and waited til evening.
He said that on getting to ATM,he was told that the money has finished, leaving in utter bewilderment.
Another resident, who preferred anonymity said he was told that he could only withdraw N2,000 through ATM adding that even though he was ready to withdraw such meagre amount, poor network put that asunder, adding that he went empty handed.
Mr Paul Adebayo said “it is funny and worrisome to have your money in the bank and not been able to withdraw it for domestic usage and business transactions.”
Mr Sani Abu said that the current scarcity of new and old notes had made life not only difficult but also precarious, especially for the masses and more for the business community.
Some residents and customers, however, commended few of banks in the state capital for dispensing the new naira notes through their ATMs to customers but decried the shylock attitude of operators of Point of Sale POS in the area who impose high charges on customers.
Reacting to the allegation of the customers,a female POS operator, Blessing Oluwafemi said the high charge was occasioned by the difficulties POS operators encountered in the banks in the course of withdrawing money for business.
She said: “For instance I am frustrated, I can’t even dispense N1,000 of the new notes to customers who come for withdrawal, because it is difficult to obtain the redesigned naira notes from the banks and customers are not willing to take the old notes.
“How can one explain a situation where by you have money in the bank but you can’t withdraw it to execute your social and economic responsibilities because it is trapped without any genuine reason.
She appealed to the authorities concerned to ease the suffering of Nigerians by making the new naira available to banks in large quantity and sanction those behind their scarcity, describing the development as “pure economic sabotage'”
Our Correspondent gathered that that people in the rural areas appear to be mostly affected by the scarcity, as plans by the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN to ensure smooth exchange of the notes have not yielded the desired positive results.
None of banks staff contacted on the development was ready to comment on the issue.
The Reporters recalls that the Federal Government extended the swapping of the old naira notes for the new currencies from January 31 to February 10,2023 to enable Nigerians exchange their old notes seamlessly.
He stated this on Friday in Abuja when APC governors met him with complaints emanating from the scarcity of the notes and urged him to find lasting solution to it.
In neighbouring Kogi State, particularly Lokoja,the state capital,the story is not different as bank customers groan under the yoke of scarcity of the new and old notes with negative story to inquisitive Journalists.
Worried by the effects of the scarcity on the people, the President, Muhammadu Buhari, had asked citizens to give him seven days to resolve the problem.
While expressing doubts about the commitment of banks in particular to the success of the policy, Buhari however noted that “some banks are inefficient and only concerned about themselves”, saying that “even if a year is added, problems associated with selfishness and greed won’t go away.”
In a statement signed by GARBA SHEHU, Senior Special Assistant to the President(Media and Publicity), Buhari further assured Nigerians that “I will revert to the CBN and the Minting Company. There will be a decision one way or the other in the remaining seven days of the 10-day extension.”
Edited by Dada Ahmed.
