Nigerians groan as Naira scarcity persists

The pain occasioned by naira scarcity has continued to bite harder four days after the seven-day grace President Muhammadu Buhari assured Nigerians he would tackle the menace.

President Buhari had while receiving the Progressive Governors’ Forum penultimate Friday, begged Nigerians to give him seven days to end the naira scarcity squabble.

And the seven-day which elapsed Thursday last week was followed by the National Council of State’s meeting Friday at the end of which the body asked the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to allow both the old and new naira to co-exist in the nation’s economy.

As the legal battle opens Wednesday at the Supreme Court, the number of states dragging the federal government to court has increased to six, with Niger, Ekiti and Rivers joining Kaduna, Kogi and Zamfara state governments.

READ ALSO: Naira drops against Dollar at official FX market

And just ahead of the legal battle, the Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF) Sunday warned that the naira scarcity could lead the nation into recession.

The governors also told citizens that they feel their pains and are “determined to employ all legitimate channels to ease the situation.”

Notwithstanding the various interventions, there are indications that the suffering over the nation’s currency has increased in multiple folds.

Investigation revealed that more money points are fast emerging as people see the cash squeeze as a quick means to wealth.

For instance, at a location where cooking gas is sold in Kado Estate, Abuja, a money operator, a customer, who people call Michael, said the  “man takes as much as N6,000 to withdraw N20,000 new notes. I had no choice because I needed the money badly. In fact, somebody came to the man to also get him a million naira and was charged N300, 000 as commission. It’s that bad.”

The confusion and state of uncertainty continue unabated nationwide as politics and various counter statements filter in from politicians, regulators, courts and government officials.

At the weekend, the situation became that of disarray as some banks wrote to petrol stations not to admit old notes as they, the banks, will no longer take them in.

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Bank account holders are now not certain of the new 17th February deadline purportedly given by the apex bank for the policy to expire, as these banks are already rejecting old notes before that date.

READ ALSO: Uncertainty as new naira notes remain scarce after CBN’s deadline

To make a confused state more complex, it was reported that some state governors have given orders that anybody who rejects the old notes be arrested.

In the midst of this confusion, analysts are calling on authorities involved to come out with a common front to douse the tension the new policy is creating.

Ambrose Ojo, a retired banker, said “a clear statement from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and the Ministry of Justice, including the Presidency could calm troubled waters.”

Malaki Tunde, a business man also told one of our correspondents that instead of counter statements, let words be matched with action to demonstrate what they are saying.

“It’s not enough to say that we have the capacity to print money, whereas the money is nowhere to be found,” said Tunde.

On his part, the Chief Research Officer, Investdata Consulting Limited, Mr. Ambrose Omorodion said what is happening in the bank in the last seven weeks was not as a result of poor planning but banks and other agents do not have enough funds with them.

Admitting that the policy is a good one, he said there is a need for the CBN to release more new notes into the financial system.

Omorodion said: “At the stage we are now is not time to blame the Central Bank of Nigeria or federal government but to use every available means to provide funds into the banking system.