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From Uche Usim (Abuja), Adewale Sanyaolu and Chinwendu Obienyi
Mixed reactions Thursday greeted the release of the redesigned naira notes by Deposit Money Banks (DMBs) in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).
Within Abuja City centre, spending the new cash was not much of a challenge as many had waited for its arrival.
But the exact opposite was the case in surburban areas as the awareness on the new notes has not sufficiently permeated the nooks and crannies .
When Daily Sun visited some banks within the Central Business District as early as 9am, teller clerks said they were awaiting the new notes from the CBN, just as they dispensed old notes to customers since they are to be used concurrently with the new notes until January 31, 2023. At Keystone Bank, Gwarinpa, teller clerks said the new notes will be available ‘later in the day’.
Taxi drivers in rural areas like Biyazin in Kubwa rejected the new notes when commuters attempted to pay with them.
Leke Idowu, a university student, said the driver of the bus taking him to Nyanya rejected the new notes.
“I tried spending the new naira notes today but it was totally rejected. I pleaded but to no avail. The conductor said he was not aware of the new notes. Everyone is just confused in this country”, he said.
Another depositor, Kalu Bernard, said he got some new notes from Access Bank in Maitama but had a hectic time convincing grocers and artisans to collect the money.
“I wanted to buy some fruits and gave it to the seller but he said he wasn’t familiar with it.
“I argued and preached but he wouldn’t budge. It took another passerby to lend his voice before he accepted it. The people who fixed my visitors bathroom also refused the new notes. There’s so much confusion and rejection. I think the awareness on the new notes is grossly insufficient. We need more awareness”, he said.
Also, it was discovered that many Automated Teller Machines (ATMs) of virtually all the banks still dispensed the old notes and have not been configured to the N20,000 daily withdrawal limit.
Meanwhile, in Lagos, mixed reactions trailed the release of the new bank notes by commercial banks across Nigeria on Thursday.
Although, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) had directed all banks to commence the circulation of the new notes to customers, investigations by Daily Sun revealed that upon withdrawal of cash by customers across various locations in Lagos like Ajah, Orile-Coker, Apapa and Oshogbo in Osun state, some of the new generational banks delivered small quantities of the N1,000 new notes mixed with the old notes while some did not have the new notes at all and continued dishing out the old notes to customers.
The apex bank had in October 2022, redesigned N200, N500, and N1000 while notifying the public that it would start circulating them before the end of the year. For instance, a bank customer at Orile-Coker, Uloma Chukwuemeka, who was eager to lay hands on the new notes, told Daily Sun that she was disappointed with the quality of the notes.
“When I learnt that today was the day the CBN had told banks to start circulation, I quickly rushed to my own bank to see if I could lay my hands on the notes but to my greatest surprise, I felt disappointed with the quality and then the teller told me that they did not have the new N500 and N200 notes.
Hauwa Lawal, another bank customer at Apapa, said the CBN could have used the money for something different while adding that she still preferred the old 1,000 note to the new one.
“This new 1,000 note looks like fake and I will not be surprised if fake currencies of this note won’t be in circulation. The CBN would have done better in terms of quality, said Kingsley Chinedu, a bank customer.
For his part, Samuel Chidiebere, a fashion designer at Ajah, lauded the notes but added that the CBN have to make the notes circulate properly across the country.
“The way I see the new notes, I will say I like what I am currently touching. I would have loved to have a feel of the N200 and N500 notes but the guy at the counter said the bank does not have it. The CBN now has its responsibility of ensuring these notes gets to every bank because January 2023 is around the corner and so it is best they do it quickly so that’s every Nigerian can have the new notes to spend”, he said. When Daily Sun spoke to one of the staff of the new generation bank in Oshogbo, she said, “We actually have these notes but we have not started giving out because we understand that some people might want to get this in bulk and start using it to do money changing business.
The other notes which is N200 and N500 are not yet with us and we are still expecting the quantity that we as branch here requested for”.
In announcing the policy in November, CBN Governor, Godwin Emefiele had revealed that the bank had moved more people from different departments into currency processing to ensure quick processing of the cash.
“We are more than prepared because I said December 15 when we announced it, we said December 15 is when we will issue the cash but we have to move it forward; the president launched it on November 26 instead of December 15.
I just told you now that yesterday, the banks have received the new cash and they have started dispensing them. I can only just assure you that it will go round, let us just be calm, luckily the old currency continues to be legal tender till January 31, 2023”, Emefiele said.
However, despite obeying the CBN directive to commence distribution of the redesigned N1,000, N500 and N200 naira notes yesterday, majority of the DMBs recorded major shortfall in supply.
Findings by Daily Sun across DMBs in Lagos revealed that majority of them were yet to take possession of the new naira notes in sufficient quantity to fgive to their customers .
Some of the bank officials who spoke to Daily Sun under the condition of anonymity because they were not officially authorised to speak said they were yet to be supplied the new notes by the CBN. They explained that despite the roll out of the new notes yesterday, they may not have access to same until next week when it would be well circulated.
They said the logistics around movement of currencies was enormous, saying all was been done to ensure a seamless distribution exercise.
Some of the Bank customers seen carrying out Over the Counter(OTC) transaction were still being paid in the old currencies, an indication that was low supply by the lender of last resort.
The same scenario equally played out across most Automated Teller Machines(ATM) as customers were still being dispensed with the old naira notes.
Recall that President Muhammadu Buhari, had in the early hours of November 23, 2022, unveiled the redesigned naira notes across the N200, N500 and N1,000 denominations.
Governor of the CBN, Godwin Emefiele, at the unveiling ceremony insisted that the move was not targeted at anyone.
Rather, he said the redesigned notes would give the apex bank ample control over the amount of money in circulation.
“This move is to enable the Central Bank of Nigeria have control over the size of money in circulation
“There is no need to think that the programme is targeted at anyone. During my speech at the unveiling, I said that plans for this started early in the year. We considered the pros and cons carefully.
“In the past, attempts to redesign and reissue currencies have been resisted. Only a President of Muhammadu Buhari’s character could have made it happen,” he said.
Emefiele added that the amount of money that can be withdrawn from the counter would be reduced drastically, adding that bulk withdrawal would require several procedures and security checks to track its use.
This he said would ensure a steady transition into a cashless economy.
The CBN governor also argued that Nigerians have ample time to return the old notes in circulation adding that the apex bank will not extend the January 31, 2023 deadline.
According to him, “As of 2018, we had 86,000 touchpoints nationwide where Nigerians could deposit and withdraw money. In October 2022, that number has risen to 1.4 million touchpoints.
“That is to say we have over 1.4 million bank branches, POS points and other ancillary outfits to enable Nigerians return the old notes.”
Emefiele said the apex bank will now redesign the currency after every five to eight years, as empowered by the constitution
