Follow Us on Google
By Chinwendu Obienyi
Strong indications emerged at the weekend that commercial banks will continue to dispense cash to customers via their Automated Teller Machines (ATMs) and over the counter today.
This is coming after the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) on Friday confirmed the evacuation of bank notes from its vault to commercial banks across the country.
This, according to the apex bank, is a coordinated effort designed to ease the circulation of bank notes of various denominations. The CBN also directed all commercial banks to open for operation on Saturdays and Sundays.
According to the bank’s Acting Director, Corporate Communications Department, Dr. Isa AbdulMumin, a substantial amount of money in various denominations had been received by the banks for onward circulation to their respective customers.
AbdulMumin also stated that the CBN Governor, Godwin Emefiele will personally lead teams to monitor the level of compliance by banks in various locations across the country.
He thereafter urged Nigerians to be patient as the current situation would ease off soon with the injection of more naira notes into circulation.
Daily Sun investigations reveal that some bank branches in Lagos in locations like Ogba, Egbeda and Fadeyi wer locked while others in locations like Onipanu, Gbagada, Oyingbo and V.I, followed the directives of the CBN and reopened for transactions at the weekend.
Customers who spoke to Daily Sun, revealed that the banks dispensed old naira notes from their ATMs and over the counter, ranging from N20,000 to N30,000. It was observed that Point of Sales (PoS) operators came to the banks with different debit cards to withdraw money for their businesses.
Sodiq Oluwatosin, a PoS operator, said, “I came here with at least three debit cards as I was told that this ATM is dispensing up to N20,000. I want to withdraw at least N50,000 to N60,000 so that I can get my PoS business going. Although the sun is hot, I am optimistic that when it gets to my turn, I will go home with something.”
Chikezie Onu, a business man, said, “Although the queue is much, I have to wait. I didn’t even go to church because I do not have cash, so I had to withdraw so that I and my family can have something to eat. So far, they are dispensing cash. I have seen someone who was given N20,000 over the counter but their ATM does not have cash. I hope the CBN releases more cash because Nigerians have suffered. Some of the customers say that on Monday, the cash might be rationed again, hence the reason why people are re-queuing after collecting.”
However, a source at CBN, confirmed to Daily Sun that banks will continue to dispense cash today.
“Just as we released a statement on Friday, we have dispatched notes to the banks and they will continue to dispense cash on a weekly basis and like the statement said, there will be strict monitoring” the source said.
The naira redesign programme, an offshoot of the cashless policy, officially kicked off on December 15, 2022 with the unveiling of new N200, N500 and N1,000 notes.
It was designed to moderate cash spending, tackle terrorism and illicit financial inflows, corruption and other crimes.
The CBN, in its examination of the economy, realised that as at December 2022, N2.7 trillion out of N3.2 trillion currency in circulation was outside the banks.
It also pegged weekly cash withdrawals by individuals and corporate bodies at N500,000 and N5 million, with effect from January 9, 2023.
