Bank customers’ dilemma

• Nigerians share traumatic experiences of bank officials
rejecting old naira notes in defiance of Supreme Court order

• ‘It was shocking, weird that banks would disown naira notes disbursed by them’

By Kate Halim

For many Nigerians, it was ten days of agony and dilemma. Days after the Supreme Court declared that old 500 and 1000 naira notes should remain legal tender until December 31, 2023, some banks kept rejecting the notes, even after issuing them to customers over the counter and through their Automated Teller Machines (ATM). 

On Monday, the Presidency, which had kept mum on the matter for over a week, reacted to the apex court’s order, saying it never ordered the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) governor not to obey any court order, thereby throwing the CBN governor, Godwin Emefiele, under the bus.

Following the statement from the presidency, the CBN ordered banks to start collecting the old notes.

Some Nigerians, who were frustrated by the strange attitude from the banks, poured out their hearts to Saturday Sun, wondering why banks would issue notes but refuse to accept such notes back.

Chukwuma Orjiakor, a phone seller and technician, told Saturday Sun that he was not a happy man. He said he had undergone too much stress since the cash crunch started. He said that when he read about the Supreme Court ruling that the old notes should still be used as legal tender until the end of the year, he was happy. But his joy vanished when people still rejected the old notes.

Orjiakor stated that initially, he thought that the rejection of the old notes would last for just a day but he got the shock of his life when a bank in his area dispensed old notes to him through their ATM in the morning and rejected the same notes in the afternoon because he couldn’t spend it for hours.

He said: “I went to the ATM to withdraw N5000 last week. The ATM machine paid me old notes. I took the money home and decided to buy some foodstuffs and keep them in the house. I went to one supermarket in my area so I could get a few things I needed, but they rejected the money. After trying unsuccessfully to spend the money in five places, I took the money back to the same bank where I withdrew the cash earlier but they rejected the money, claiming that the money was no more legal tender.”

The phone technician lamented about the things he had to endure because of the cash crunch and the aftermath of the Supreme Court ruling. He said that even though the CBN stated that old 500 and 1000 naira notes could now be used, he wouldn’t forget in a hurry how he suffered trying to withdraw money from the bank for weeks with little to show for it.

“I remember going to the bank as early as 7 am to pick a number because I couldn’t leave my shop for a long time because that would make me lose customers. I went to the bank for one week straight but I couldn’t withdraw even N5000 from my account. I had to resort to patronising point-of-sale operators with their outrageous charges. I withdrew N5000 with N6500 last week when there was no hope of getting money from the bank and I needed to buy foodstuffs,”  he said.

Chinyere Anyanwu, a businesswoman who deals in designer shoes and bags in Ajah area of Lagos said that her bank paid her N10,000 in old notes over the counter last Tuesday. But when she went back to deposit the same money in her account after people kept rejecting it, the same bank refused to collect the old notes back.

Anyanwu said: “I collected old notes last week Tuesday from the bank. I was happy that I got money to buy some things for me and my children but everywhere I went to buy something, the sellers rejected the old notes. Frustrated, I went back the next day to return it but it wasn’t accepted by the same people who gave it to me. They said they didn’t receive any directive from the CBN to accept old notes. I was shocked and angry at the same time.”

The mother of three recalled that she was confused when she left the bank. She said that she almost cried because of the stress she had to endure looking for how to withdraw money to feed her children. She added that while contemplating what to do with the old notes, someone told her that a Point of Sale operator was accepting old notes. She said that she quickly went to the POS operator and deposited the money back into her account after paying an agreed amount as charges.

A caterer, Gloria Ibeneme said that she almost fought one of the security guys in the bank last week for pushing her after she told him she wanted to deposit old naira notes. The mother of one recalled that what happened that day in the bank close to her shop was unpleasant and it was an experience she would rather forget.

Arranging her snacks carefully in a show glass in her shop, Ibeneme stated that she was happy after she learnt about the Supreme Court’s decision regarding the use of old 500 and 1000 notes. The businesswoman who noted that she had been recording low sales because of the cash crunch revealed that she went to the bank happily last week to withdraw money from her account.

“When I got to the bank close to my shop, I was relieved to see people in the queue withdrawing money from the ATM. I joined the queue while chatting happily with other people because we all thought that this ordeal was over. When it got to my turn, the ATM dispensed old 1000 naira notes which I happily received. But my joy was short-lived because nobody accepted the old notes from me.”

Ibeneme stated that she became worried when the woman who supplies her flour and sugar rejected being paid with old notes, alleging that neither President Muhammadu Buhari nor the CBN governor, Godwin Emefiele had told Nigerians to start spending the old naira notes.

“Even though I was angry at the recent turn of events, I calmly told myself not to blame her because she was being careful. I had to pay her through my bank app which took 24 hours for the money to reflect in her account. I wasn’t happy but I decided to return the money to the bank hours after collecting it.”

Ibeneme said she got the money from the bank ATM in the morning and since she couldn’t spend it, she returned to the bank some hours later. But to her shock, she said, the bank officials refused to collect the money from her.

“Despite the proof I had that their ATM dispensed the old notes to me hours earlier, they asked me to log on to CBN’s portal and register the money before I could deposit it. I was also told to leave the bank premises by one of the security guards after I raised my voice at the cashier who told me she wouldn’t accept the old 500 and 1000 naira notes from me. When I refused to leave, he pushed me; I pushed him back and hit him with my handbag. I was so frustrated with everything that I almost started crying. He left me alone quickly and I left the bank afterwards.”

Emma Praise, a businesswoman, recalled that she was happy after reading that Nigerians could now use the old 500 and 1000 naira notes for their transactions as stated by the Supreme Court. She said that before the Supreme Court ruling, she had been going to the bank for one week to withdraw money without getting any. She added that last week, her account officer called her and told her to come to the bank to collect the cash she requested two weeks earlier.

“I happily went to the bank last week to collect some money but was shocked when I was paid with old notes. I told the cashier that I wouldn’t accept the old notes because I was not sure that people would take them from me. But he told me that he wouldn’t collect the money from me because he had already paid me. I thought it was a joke until I tried to deposit the money immediately back into my account but I was told that they were not going to accept it,” Praise said.

According to Praise, she begged the bank officials to no avail. She said that they were adamant about her depositing back the old notes the bank paid her back into her account. She said that she had no choice but to return home with the money. But she told Saturday Sun she was now relieved because the CBN had directed that the banks should start disbursing and accepting the old N1000 and N500 notes again. 

“We just suffered unnecessarily over the old notes and new notes issue. I know how much I have lost in my business because the women who buy smoked fish from me always pay through mobile bank transfers instead of cash as they do in the past. I begged some of them to give me cash but they refused. The whole thing was a mess. I hope things get back to normal soon before we all go crazy,” she stated.

 Collins Ebidei owns a salon in Aguda, Surulere area of Lagos. He said that when a cashier in a commercial bank close to Aguda market refused to collect the old naira notes their ATM dispensed to him the previous day, he was angry. 

“I withdrew the money from the ATM in that particular bank on Wednesday morning. But everywhere I went to spend it, people rejected it. So I decided to deposit the money back in my account. When I got to the bank, I had to wait for over four hours to get into the banking hall. You can imagine how angry I was when the cashier informed me that she could not accept the old notes from me because they had not received the go-ahead from the CBN to do so. Even after telling her that the bank officials were the ones who paid me with old naira notes, she still insisted that she wouldn’t collect it from me. I had to take the money home, sad and disappointed,” she said.

Ebidei who said he started his saloon business six years ago told Saturday Sun that the cash crunch affected his business negatively. He said that most of his customers usually insist on paying for his service through bank transfers while the rest owe him money while promising to pay later. 

“I had to provide some services on credit because sometimes the mobile bank transfers were unsuccessful and I didn’t want to have misunderstandings with my customers because of money. I had to pay for some of the products I use in my saloon with bank transfers and sometimes, it took days for the sellers to get the alert from my bank. Now that we can use the old 500 and 1000 naira notes again, I know my customers will pay me what they owe me,” he said.