Nigerians have been left confused as the deadline set by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) for swapping the old naira notes for the new notes ended today. The confusion comes after the Supreme Court had some days ago, ruled that the deadline should be suspended pending the determination of the case filed by the governors of Kaduna, Kogi and Zamfara States. The apex bank fixed February 15 to entertain the case filed by the governors.
The Minister of Justice and Attorney-General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami (SAN) in response to the suit on Wednesday had said the Supreme Court lacked jurisdiction on the matter. Commercial banks in the country are left stranded as the CBN fails to speak on the ruling of the Supreme Court as to whether the old N1000, N500 and N200 would cease to be legal tender by Friday (today).
Some bank executives that spoke with Punch on condition of anonymity said they can not say if the Friday deadline still stands. A top official of Access Bank said, “I cannot say yes or no. You know there is a court judgment so for now, there is a Supreme Court judgment and we have not received any further communication from the CBN on it.” A top source of Ecobank speaking on the deadline set by the CBN also said, “We don’t know what will happen yet. You know the deadline is Friday (today), so we will still collect old naira notes on Friday but after that, we don’t know what will happen.”
A top management official of Zenith Bank who spoke on the compelling issue on condition of anonymity said, “As it is now, Friday is the deadline but there is a Supreme Court judgment so, we don’t know what will happen. For now, there is no new circular from the CBN that there will be any extension.” The issue has seen some banks in the country close, following attacks on their facilities by Nigerians who are not pleased with the hardship experienced due to the Naira scarcity. With banks shutting down their facilities, Point of Sale (POS) operators have also shut down their businesses as they have no access to funds for their daily activities.
Some bankers revealed that the CBN are distributing a limited volume of cash to banks, adding that Nigerians have refused to bring in their old notes. One of the bankers said, “The CBN is hoarding supply to branches. They refused to release the new naira notes. Old lower denominations are what they are giving banks now but in low quantity.”
Another banker said, “Cash is limited. We know it’s all about financial inclusion but if people are unable to use their account for its original purpose and they want us to go all tech, there will be issues. Regarding cash supply, there’s more that CBN can do.”
