By Dada Ahmed in Lokoja.
Most bank customers in Lokoja, Kogi State, have formed the habit of arming themselves with ATM cards as they seek,in tears, for any available bank that has money for dispense,just as scarcity of new and old naira notes bites harder on Friday.
Correspondent of the Reporters reports on Friday that none of the banks visited between 10.a.m noon had money either on the counter or ATM,to dispense to customers, as development continues to make negative impact on the social and economic life of the people.
Our Correspondent,who has been monitoring the issue reports that many customers confirmed that they had been trooping to banks as early as 5 a.m daily to form long queues for money withdrawal,regreting that in most cases with little hope of realising their ambition.
They expressed worry that the scarcity of the naira notes had brought a lot of untold harship such as loss of man hour and fatigue with the attendant psychological trauma on them and their families.
The customers, therefore, renewed their call on the Central Bank of Nigeia, CBN, to supply enough notes to commercial banks to ease the effect of cash crunch.
At the premises of one of the banks, a boy of about 6 years, who accompanied his mother to bank to cash money created a scene when he bursted to tears as he discovered that his mother could not make cash withdrawal because the money got finished and the ATM stopped dispensing.
As some customers tried to calm the boy down, he continued, adding, “mammy, I am hungry, I need water,a situation the pensive-looking mother, could not help claiming that she had no money on her.
“My last hope of having money is that ,I will be able to withdraw money from ATM today but here I am with no hope of going back home with money,” the mother said in low tone.
However, the atmosphere later elicited the sympathy of another customer who quickly bought the biscuit and sachet water for the boy.
Keen watchers of the cash crunch in the area told The Reporters that the drama created by the boy typified the plight of most bank customers through out the country and called on the federal government to do something urgent to arrest the situation.
Our Correspondent also reports that sellers of consumable,non consumable goods as well as services, on Friday,stopped collecting the old naira notes from customers, either in the markets or other commercial places in Lokoja and its environs.
Motorists who went to buy fuel in filling stations in the area said they were embarrassed as fuel attendants refused to collect the old naira from them.
Premium Times qouted the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeia, CBN, Goodwin Emefiele as saying that
supply constraint, arising from the limited capacity to print enough new naira notes was responsible for the severe cash crunch.
Emefiele was said to have made the disclosure on Friday when he briefed the emergency meeting of the National Council of State, sources who attended the meeting told PREMIUM TIMES.
The source added that President Muhammadu Buhari convened the meeting to arrest the shortage of naira throughout the country.
Council of State has advised President has approved the Naira redesign by the Central Bank of Nigeria.
However,at the end of the meeting, the council urged Muhammadu Buhari to direct the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to print more redesigned naira notes or allow the new and old banknotes to circulate, concurrently,to ease the tension caused by the scarcity of cash.
Briefing State House Correspondents after the Council meeting, the Attorney General of the Federal, Abubakar Malami, flanked by Governor Darius Ishaku of Taraba State and Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu of Lagos State, said that the Council emphasized the need for aggressive action by the CBN to ensure adequate supply of the naira in the system for proper implementation of the policy.
Contributing,Governor Ishaku stated that the council also proffered a number of suggestions to the President, particularly on the currency swap challenge which dominated discussions, following a debriefing from the CBN Governor Godwin Emefiele.
He expressed the hope that President Buhari would make a decision soon.
