Following the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN)’s directive to Deposit Money Banks to recognise the old N200, N500 and N1000 as legal tender till December 31, 2023, there have been mixed reactions from Nigerians from all walks of life.
The Apex Banks’ statement came 11 days after the Supreme Court ruled that old naira notes should co-exist with new ones till the end of 2023.
Earlier on Monday, the Presidency, in a statement by Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Malam Garba Shehu, said President Muhammadu Buhari never told the CBN governor, Godwin Emefiele, and Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice Abubakar Malami, SAN, not to comply with the ruling of the Supreme Court.
“The CBN has no reason not to comply with court orders on the excuse of waiting for directives from the President. The President is an absolute respecter of the rule of law and that the “negative campaign and personalised attacks against the President by the opposition and all manner of commentators is unfair and unjust,” the statement had noted.
But several hours later, the CBN, in a late night statement Monday by its Acting Director of Corporate Communications, Isa AbdulMumin, said the Apex Bank’s decision is “in compliance with the established tradition of obedience to court orders and sustenance of the Rule of Law Principle that characterized the government of President Muhammadu Buhari, and by extension, the operations of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), as a regulator, Deposit Money Banks operating in Nigeria have been directed to comply with the Supreme Court ruling of March 3, 2023.
“Accordingly, the CBN met with the Bankers’ Committee and has directed that the old N200, N500 and N1000 banknotes remain legal tender alongside the redesigned banknotes till December 31, 2023.
“Consequently, all concerned are directed to conform accordingly.”
Sixteen states of the Federation had instituted a suit challenging the legality of the introduction of the policy.
Nigerians react
A cross section of Nigerians who spoke to Blueprint Tuesday on the latest CBN’s directive, expressed mixed feelings, with some saying it’s long overdue.
In his reaction, an Abuja-based business woman, Mrs Edna Ubochi, said it would take days before the stress of getting the naira eases, pointing out that though she spent the old N1000 notes, but had to pay above the normal rate.
She said: “The situation will get better as the days go by. Even this morning at Wuse market, the transporter that agreed to carry my goods insisted that I have to pay him N3, 500 instead of N3, 000 that I normally pay, as according to him, I would be paying him with old notes.”
A newspaper vendor at Area 1 Shopping Complex Abuja, Babarinde Oyekunle, said the return of old Naira note was a relief to his business.
Oyekunle said: “I was initially reluctant whether to receive the old Naira note this morning (Tuesday) or not, despite the directive from the CBN until my daughter went to bank and was paid N20, 000 with old notes. So, I have started collecting it from my customers as well.”
At a filling station in Garki area of FCT, Blueprint observed an intense argument between an attendant and a customer who wanted to pay for a 10-litre fuel with old Naira notes.
While the customer was explaining to the fuel attendant that CBN had given a directive to banks to start dispensing old notes, the fuel attendant insisted that until her manager gives her directive, she wouldn’t accept the old Naira notes.
Also at the fuel station, a taxi driver who identified himself as Kunle Ijesha, said he was ready to collect the old Naira notes, adding that both old and new Naira notes were not in circulation.
Ijesha said: “I am ready to collect anyone (Old or new Naira) from my customers but they don’t even have it. Most of my passengers this morning did not have cash on them. They all made transfers to my account which took a long time before I got the alerts.”
It was not the same experience for media practitioner John Oba as the driver of the taxi he boarded refused to collect the old notes from him.
He told this newspaper that it took the intervention of other passengers and passerby to persuade him that Nigerians were now free to use the old notes for transactions, adding the driver insisted he must hear from Buhari before collecting old notes from his passengers.
“A taxi driver almost beat me up today, for paying my fare with the old one thousand naira note. Even when I told him that it is now a legal tender and that bank actually dispenses it, the man was adamant. Maybe he thought I was one of those who kept millions at home. He said he must hear from Buhari before collecting it from me,” he said.
In a telephone chat, a trader at Agunmo market in Badagry area of Lagos, Mrs. Veronica Ageh, told one of our reporters that since opening her shop around 9am in the morning, she had been collecting old N500 and N1000 notes from her customers.
According to her, since the CBN has given the go ahead, people are left with no choice than to collect the old notes.
“Before I left the house this morning, my son told me of the CBN announcement. So, when customers who came to my shop to buy goods said they would pay me with the old notes, I did not hesitate to collect them because I know I can also go to buy goods with it and it will not be rejected,” she said.
Blueprint also reports the views of some Nigerians on their Facebook wall.
One of them, Abdulrahman Muhammad, wrote: “The truth must be told. Our President didn’t do well on this currency matter. The suffering in towns is too much to bear. We’re praying to God to let him go home in peace for us to have our new President in Aso Rock. That’s what he could do. Someone is coming in to rewrite the history of Nigeria positively by the special grace of God Almighty Allah.”
Another user, Mohammed Tijani, wrote: This is not good enough as an explanation. The President addressed the nation before on this cashless policy. He owes Nigerians a last duty to rise to the occasion. Address Nigerians on the Supreme Court Judgment and put a stop to these pain ordinary citizens are going through. I have been a staunch supporter of Mr. President. But he missed this one.”
On his part, Alani Makinde said: “We have gone past that stage. Now, it is the availability that is the issue. I hope CBN will not claim that the old notes have been destroyed and no provisions are made for reprint. I foresee another Nigeria wonder loading, though the coming days will prove me wrong or right”.
However, Olusola Olaitan Ayeleru said: “Welcome to Nigeria where we have the Presidency and the President and it took the so-called Presidency almost 2 weeks to respond to a court judgement. Shioor, damage control, it is too late to tell stories. What happened to as many who lost their lives as a result of this satanic policy?”
‘Enugu residents suffering’
And from Enugu, Enugu state came the report that despite the CBN’s compliance with the court order, respite not yet in sight for its residents.
At several banks visited by one of our reporters Tuesday, Automated Teller Machines (ATMs), were not dispensing either the old or new notes.
Findings by this medium revealed that people queued on end at bank premises without getting cash for their daily business transactions.
As early as 6 am, many bank customers had converged at their banks in expectation of doing transactions with them, but the suffering is yet to alleviate.
By 2.30pm, one of the first generation banks had locked its gates to customers just as its ATMs located in front of the bank were not dispensing cash, but only transfers were going through.
“It is funny that in spite of the CBN directive to banks to start accepting the old Naira notes of N200, N500 and N1, 000, we are still suffering.
“Look, I came here in the morning but I did not get money. I have been to three banks today but the story is the same,” a customer said while pointing at a nearby branch of another bank.
A resident, who went to buy some items from a shop in the Enugu metropolis, said he had to make some noise before a shop attendant would accept the old N500 note he gave her.
“I went to a shop to buy something in the money and they rejected the N500 note even when I reminded them the CBN directive. I had to threaten and make some noise before they accepted the money. Can you imagine,” laments James Kalu.
“There is so much suffering in this country. I tried to transfer money to somebody with my phone this morning but I could not. I had to go to my bank to do a transfer before it worked. What are we up to?” queries Emeka Nwokoama.
Experts speak
Meanwhile, an economic expert, Yusha’u Aliyu, has charged the CBN to not just obey the Supreme Court order, but also make the cash available.
Aliyu, in an interview with Blueprint, described CBN’s directive as a welcome development.
“The traditional reaction is that we welcome the development because it was a court ruling. Though we expected it earlier, we are glad it came now.
“However, we are hoping that the Central Bank will direct more supplies of the mint because there are two issues: the use of the old notes and the availability of the notes themselves,” he said.
On whether Nigerians were ready for a cashless policy, he said: “When you look at the Nigerian economy, it is a cash-based economy and people required so much of sensitization to understand what a cashless policy is, but at the same time, also, the Central Bank and commercial banks must live up to responsibility for it to work.
“Because there is no way in the federal capital of a great economy of the most populous black nation, will be devoid of cash in its automated teller machines, this is not healthy, and it is not encouraging.”
On his expectation from the CBN, Aliyu said: “It is one thing to act based on the ruling and it is also a different act to be proactive in the supplies of the note for economic use between now and December 31”.
Also, a political economist, Adefolarin Olamilekan told Blueprint that it is obvious the CBN was waiting on President Buhari before it could act.
“Nevertheless, the entire misconception and misinterpretation of the ruling and most importantly the argument of whether the Supreme Court has jurisdiction is now settled once and for all. “This is a win-win for Nigerians after what they’ve been through in the past couple of months. Even households and SMEs operating in the informal sectors have been impacted badly.
“The latest development coming from both the president and CBN is a welcome one. With this, we hope the tension and pressure on the economy, micro and macroeconomics, with diverse negative impacts on the real sector of our economy will ease,” he said.
Going forward, Olamilekan urged fiscal and monetary authorities to consult widely before pushing out a sensitive policy like currency management and other policies.
“Furthermore, we expect effective communication between all levels of government, agencies and subnationals,” Afolarin said.
‘eNaira‘ll grow businesses faster’
Meanwhile, the Young Progressives Party (YPP) candidate for Ifako-Ijaiye Federal Constituency, Lagos state in the February 25 Presidential and National Assembly Elections, Buraimoh Peter Folajimi, has called on Nigerians to leverage eNaira wallet, saying it would enable the country’s economy to grow faster.
He also urged the CBN to extend its functionality by partnering with the ICT sector to provide solutions to rural areas.
Folajimi, who made the call in an interview with journalists in Abuja, said eNaira is another secured platform that Nigerians can leverage to carry out their daily transactions because it is being monitored by the CBN.
According to him, Nigerians don’t need to suffer going from one ATM to another just to get money in this digital age.
He said: “I don’t know what other solutions people will be looking for again. If there is an eNaira solution then it is easy for everyone to move digital and we can go further to make it more accessible for the local people who have access to technology.
“For instance, I have a tech company and headquarters in the United Kingdom (UK) with the name ‘Digital Numerical’, we could take such centers and service the people, train them on how to use naira.”
Folajimi therefore called on “the federal government to incubate people and give them training in different areas because there are a lot of Nigerians that have the solution to our problem.”
