By Dada Ahmed in Lokoja.
Despite the groaning process bank customers in Kogi State are experiencing before they can access N 5,000 from their accounts, the banks have also cried out over inability of customers to deposit money for their custody.
A senior officer in one of the first generation banks in Nigeria, gave the hint on Monday in Lokoja while answering questions from officers of ICPC who visited the bank to know the situation of things regarding dispensing of the new naira notes to customers as scarcity of new naira notes continued on Monday.
According to the senior officer,who would not want his identity disclosed, most banks in the state now depend solely on money released to them by the Central Bank of Nigeia, CBN for dispense to customers.
“Customers no more deposit money in banks since this issue of scarcity of naira began. We no longe receive money deposit.
“Many business operators are also not accepting mobile money transfer from their customers again as a result of the cash crisis.
Therefore,many banks now have little or no money to dispense to customers except the ones from the Central Bank of Nigeia.
He called on federal government to find lasting solution to the scarcity of naira notes, to expand the volume of liquidity cash of new naira notes in circulation to arrest the cash crunch.
The bank officer called on Nigerians to embrace the cashless policy which lay less emphasy on handling of physical cash as being done in western economy in order to grow the Nigerian economy.
Mr Nwachukwu Ndubusi, who sells motor spare parts in Lokoja confirmed the disclosure of the senior bank officer and attributed the problem to the fact that, most bank customers had deposited the old naira notes in banks as directed by the federal government.
He expressed regret after depositing their money in banks, they were not able to access the new naira in return as expected, to boost their business.
He said:” Having deposited the old naira in the banks as directed by the Central Bank, we are expected to be able to access our money in new naira by way of withdrawal.
“However, this has not been as we go through the needle’s eye to withdraw meagre N 5,000 or N10,000 new naira notes per day, with nothing to invest in our businesses to make profit and deposit money in the bank.
“The cash crunch has affected our business operations on a serious note and that’s why the banks are not receiving money in form of deposit from us again.
Our Correspondent reports that the order from the the Apex Bank is that, a customer is limited to N20,000 withdrawal per day but even at that instance,none of the banks visited on Monday by our Correspondent allowed customers to withdraw N 20,000.
At First bank located around Ganaja junction, Lokoja, customers, numbering over 400, were allowed to withdraw N10,000 each through ATM and N,5000 over the counter.
Very few Point of Sale POS.operstors in Lokoja, who have the new naira notes,charged N 2,000 per N 10,000 withdrawal.
Mrs Philomena Aliyu, who spoke with The Reporters at First bank Lokoja, renewed appeal to the federal government to resolve the cash crunch, stressing that they,” we,the poor have been at the receiving end of the excruciating pain of the redesigned naira policy.
Meanwhile, hundreds of customers who said they queued for several hours in banks in Lokoja, told The Reporters that they went home “thoroughly disappointed”, as they were told by the banks that there was no money again at about 3.30 p.m.
