As the clock ticks away in every moment of every minute, the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN January 31 deadline inches closer, the current efforts to have the redesigned naira notes circulated nationwide as the new legal tender for transactions may end in futility as commercial banks charged with the responsibility to actualize the plan have become clogs in the wheels of progress.
Investigations by The New diplomat yesterday in Lagos, showed that most first generation banks which were besieged by customers still dispensed old naira notes even as their Automated Teller Machines otherwise known as ATMs were completely shut down to customers despite the several warnings issued by the CBN in this regard.
Big time traders at the popular Mile 12 food market who were visibly anxious to make deposit of huge amount of money in old naira notes in order not to be caught by January 31 bug, had hectic time in contending with the huge customers’ traffic at the first generation banks located in Ketu and Kosofe respectively.
A reasonable number of customers who wanted to make withdrawal, were disappointed as the ATM at the zenith bank, Ketu branch was not operational.
A security personnel attached to the bank, said the ATMs have been shut down since the beginning of this week. But an official of the bank who would not want his name in print, said that the management was adhering to the CBN’s directive as the branch does not have New naira notes to upload in the ATMs.
At the first city monument bank, the story was the same as the ATM machines were not operational, leaving anxious customers crawling the bank premises like lobsters. A security officer at the Union Bank, Ketu branch, said the uploaded new banknotes got exhausted by customers who were at the bank early enough for their transactions.
An official of the bank said they have exhausted the amount of new naira notes issued to the branch to dispense to customers, adding that they were waiting on the headquarters for reimbursement.
But Access, Fidelity, Hope, First, UBA and GT banks in Ketu as at yesterday, had their ATMs shut down to customers.
Our investigations also revealed that bank branches at the mainland and Island uploaded their ATMs with the New naira notes but customers who were at the Teller Machines after twelve in noontime were disappointed.
However The New diplomat reliably gathered that most first generation banks have resolved not to accept the old naira notes beginning from January 30th as some banks would be preoccupied with the internal affairs on balancing of their financial books with reference to the regime of the old naira notes as well as continuous action to be taken with regarding the new banknotes.
It would be recalled that the CBN Governor, Godwin Emefiele had insisted that the January 31 deadline must be upheld despite public outcry on the dearth of the New Naira Notes and the Lawmakers intervention in that regard.
Emefiele who disclosed that the CBN had been able to mop up humongous amount of money in circulation, said the policy had curtail the unwholesome practices of Forex dealers and kidnappers demand for ransome.
