Banks defy CBN order, load ATM with old Naira notes

Some commercial banks appear to have disobeyed the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) as they loaded their Automated Teller Machines (ATM) with old Naira notes.

Recall that the CBN had earlier directed that from January 9, ATMs should start dispensing the new N200 notes as the highest denomination.

But, checks confirmed that some ATMs in Iyana Ipaja, Agege, Ikotun, Egbeda and some other suburbs in Lagos were still dispensing the old N1000 and N500 notes as of 10pm on January 10.

Sources within the banks who craved anonymity said that the new Naira notes are not available in banks, wondering where the banks would have enough to load in their ATMs.

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“Banks cannot hoard the new notes. If it is available, you will surely see it in the ATM and at the payment counters. But banks have very limited supplies, so what do you want them to do? Should they have left the ATMs empty?” a bank worker queried.

Meanwhile, the CBN on Monday asked commercial banks to stop loading their ATMs with the old notes, to ensure that the redesigned naira notes are made available at all times.

The Apex bank also threatened to sanction banks if they fail to abide by the directive.

During a stakeholder sensitisation exercise on the currency redesign in Lagos, the CBN Lagos Branch Controller, Godfrey Bariboloka Koyor, assured that there are enough of the new notes to go round.

Following the Naira redesign, the old N200, N500 and N1000 notes are to be out of circulation by January 31.

Meanwhile, the Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria, HURIWA, has queried the CBN over the scarcity of the new naira notes a few weeks before the deadline.

READ ALSO: Redesigned Naira notes ‘ll help in tackling terrorism, kidnappings—CBN

HURIWA, in a statement, also urged the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, to go after currency hawkers and influential personalities who have mopped up the very few new currency notes that the apex bank recently released.

“About three weeks after the release of the redesigned N200, N500 and N1,000 banknotes by the CBN, millions of Nigerians, even those in cities like Abuja, Lagos, Port Harcourt, Kano and other places, are yet to see or touch the new naira notes. The situation is particularly worse in remote places and villages.

“Whereas, black marketers, politicians and expatriates continue to get access to crispy naira notes but deny millions of ordinary Nigerian bank depositors access to the new notes despite the approach of the deadline of January 31, 2023,” it said in a statement.

Speaking concerning the development, a Financial Expert, Dr Anayochukwu Basil Chukwu of the Alex Ekwueme Federal University Ndufu-Alike, Ebonyi State, said the CBN was not prepared for the policy directions that they have set out to achieve.

The financial expert noted that many Nigerians, especially those living in rural areas, were out of the banking sector, adding that it would be difficult for them to cope with the new policy.

“This policy, if they don’t shift or reverse it, will cause a lot of difficulties, especially for those who are not among the bankable communities because a lot of people are outside the banking sector.