From Desmond Mgboh, Kano, Tony John, Port Harcourt and Ndubuisi Orji, Abuja
Protesters shut the Lagos-Abeokuta Expressway at Sango-Ota over their inability to withdraw money from Automated Teller Machines (ATMs).
They made bonfires of disused tyres on both sides of the highway causing serious traffic gridlock.
Some of the protesters said the cash crunch had created serious pains and agonising moments.
Leader of the protesters, Mr. Kazeem Sanni, described the situation where bank customers could not access their money as unfortunate.
He said it had been double jeopardy for bank customers as the banks would neither load their ATMs with money nor allow depositors into the banking halls to make withdrawals.
The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) already instructed banks to load their ATMs with cash and to also allow depositors to withdraw a maximum of N20,000 across the counter.
“The situation is really pathetic as this has grounded and paralysed business activities. We decided to demonstrate to show our grievances as we can no longer bear this hardship,’’ he stressed.
He called on the CBN to urgently print more new notes and ensure that banks complied with its directives.
A protester, Mr. Rotimi Odubanjo, noted that the inability to withdraw money from banks had inflicted untold discomfort on the people.
“We need the Federal Government to come to our assistance and ease this cash and fuel scarcity.”
He said the twin-scarcity of fuel and money had crippled economic activities and was leading to hunger.
Banks in area were closed to customers and the ATMs were also not dispensing cash.
Police, military and paramilitary personnel were scene at the scene of protest calming the protesters.
. Falana faults CBN over failure to obey s’court order
Femi Falana, human rights lawyer, has said the CBN was wrong for not obeying an order of the supreme court suspending the implementation of the February 10 deadline on the old naira notes.
Ruling on an ex parte application brought by three states: Kaduna, Kogi and Zamfara, the supreme court, on February 8, restrained the CBN from giving effect to the deadline on the use of old notes.
Abubakar Malami. attorney-general of the federation (AGF), who is the sole respondent in the suit has also filed a preliminary objection challenging the jurisdiction of the court to entertain the matter.
However, Malami said the federal government would obey the order in line with the rule of law.
Despite the assurance to comply with the order, some commercial banks, filling stations, and traders have stopped accepting the old naira notes from customers.
In an interview with Channels Television, Falana said CBN has a responsibility to direct commercial banks to comply with court order.
“In a country where the rule of law operates, once the supreme court has determined a matter or given an order, it is expected that all and sundry – everybody – will comply with the order.
“In this instance, the government was not really ready to comply with the order.
“A statement was credited to the central bank that said since it was not a party to the case, it is not going to comply with the order.
“I thought that could only happen in a Banana Republic. Because you would have expected the central bank to have issued a statement that following the order of the supreme court, all actions are seen on the 15th of February. I think the plaintiffs will have to take it up in the court.”
He said the CBN and its governor cannot refuse to obey the court order on the excuse that it is not a party in the suit.
“When the caught in Abuja granted an order that Godwin Emefiele is not arrested, he wasn’t a party to the case. When he ran to use some proxies to file an action against the central bank board in Delta state, preventing the bank from moving against him for participating in politics, he wasn’t a party. So people can also choose to pick which orders of the court to obey.”
He claimed the CBN is inciting the public against commercial banks despite not disbursing sufficient cash.
“Unfortunately, the Central Bank appears to have incited the public against the banks because people now troop to the banks.
“Let the public know how much you have released to each bank so that we can also ask them can you justify what you did with the money. But if you run the country on the basis of secrecy, you leave people guessing and making allegations and counter-allegations.
“He said although the policy is supposed to be a good strategy to curb vote buying, it was not well thought out. There was no committee to learn from what happened to Nigeria in 1984 when the Buhari military junta changed the colour of the naira and gave Nigeria only two weeks. At that time, the population was 81 million. Many people died and even committed suicide because they couldn’t get their money.”
. Implementation political – Wike
Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike, has said the shoddy implementation of the Naira swap policy by the CBN is political and has worsened the living condition of the poor in society.
He stressed that the essence of government and its agency such as CBN is not to inflict hardship on the masses but to cushion it.
He made this remarks during the official presentation of letter of nomination on the “award of Independent Man of the Year 2022” on him by the management of Independent Newspapers, at the Government House, Port Harcourt, yesterday.
The governor said that Nigerians are suffering as a result of the tactless implementation of the Naira swap policy, and urged government to urgently ameliorate the condition of the people.
“We are in a difficult situation now. It doesn’t matter what anybody may say. The truth must be told at all times. Nigerians are suffering now and as a people we owe that responsibility to cushion the level of hardship that Nigerians are facing, we are not to worsen the situation.”
Governor Wike said people were not necessarily opposed to the redesign of the N1,000, N500 and N200 notes but they were concerned about the implementation of the policy and the hardship it has inflicted on the masses.
“Nobody says, and let it be on record, that there is nothing wrong with redesigning our naira. What we are saying is the implementation will not help; rather, it will aggravate the condition that people face, particularly the poor people.”
He said those who insist that the Naira swap policy will curb corruption and eliminate vote buying during the general election are not sincere.
According to him, “the whole thing is being political, and that is not what it is supposed to be.”
Governor Wike, said it was regrettable the CBN has failed to emulate the global best practice in its implementation of the naira swap policy. He stressed that ideally the CBN should have allowed the old notes to be in circulation alongside the new notes for at one year before it is completely phased out.
“You have also not made the new one available and then you have said we can’t collect the old one again. Now, you that even have money in the bank, you’re not allowed to even collect your money.”
The governor observed that those advocating that Nigerians should embrace internet banking have failed to take into cognisance the fact that vast majority of the citizens, particularly in the rural areas don’t have bank accounts.
Governor Wike charged the media not to be indifferent to the prevailing situation in the country because it has a vital role to play in the peoples’ quest for actualisation of a just and equitable nation.
Earlier, the Managing Director and Editor-in-Chief of Independent Newspapers, Steve Omanufeme, said governor Wike, was nominated for the award for his dogged fight for justice, equity and fairness.
Omanufeme said governor Wike has become the voice of the voiceless in the country and expressed confidence that history will be fair to him.
He urged Nigerians take the governor’s message to heart and work towards defending the country’s fledgling democracy.
Ganduje threatens to sanction erring banks
Kano State Government has warned that it would not hesitate to revoke operational licences of major business owners or take action on anyone who refuses to accept the old naira notes as a means of transaction in the state.
He gave the warning in a statement issued by the Commissioner for Information and internal affairs, Malam Muhammad Garba.
He said the Supreme Court was emphatic on its interim injunction on the issue of old naira notes which would continue to be used as legal tender hand in hand with the new ones until gradual and final phase out.
The governor noted that it has come to the notice of the government that some business owners such as supermarkets, malls, banks, restaurants, hotels, traders in markets, filling stations, motor parks, among others, are in the habit of rejecting the old naira notes in business transaction.
He further observed that this non-acceptance by some selfish individuals is further worsening the already tensed situation exacerbated by the non-availability of the new naira notes.
“Business and economic activities are seriously affected by the naira redesign and unfortunately some self-centered individuals are cashing on the situation to cause further hardships on the people by not accepting the old naira notes during transactions.”
Govs frustrating Naira redesign policy – CSOs
A Coalition of Civil Society Organisations, under the aegies of the Coordinating Council of Civil Society Organisations, has said some state governors are allegedly frustrating the circulation of the redesigned Naira notes.
National converner of the group, Obed Okwukwe, at a press briefing, in Abuja, said the state governors are allegedly mopping up the new notes, as to make it unavailable to members of the public.
He explained that apart from the hitches been suffered by members of the public in accessing the new Naira notes, the policy has been very beneficial to the country. According to him, the new policy has helped to checked kidnapping and other crimes.
“Since the implementation of the new Naira policy, Nigerians and indeed the system have started seeing the gains. Except for the hitches of the unavailability of cash particularly for small businesses, which is caused by sabotage from those who do not want the policy, so they can continue with their illicit trade, other major indicators show that the impact of the policy on our economy is quite positive.”
“Also on security, the impact is being felt as kidnappers now know that there is no cash to pay for ransom. On our electoral process, it is now obvious to Nigerians that it is only the vote buyers that are complaining,” the group said.
Nevertheless, the coalition added “This policy is facing a syndicated attack from a group of Governors who we have termed the G10 Governors. These Governors have vowed that this policy will not see the light of the day. They are willing to go the extra mile including making our country ungovernable and undermining constitutional governance and bring the entire country to a halt all for their own reasons which are selfish.”
“Money moves in cycles. Banks pay out money and money is paid into banks. That is how cash circulates in an economy. So do we not wonder why banks pay out money and the money is not paid back into the bank?”
“These Governors are mopping up the money and stopping it from circulation.
‘The CBN had announced that it deployed N300 billion in cash as the first tranche of cash it disbursed. We all can agree that the money was hijacked and did not trickle down to the people and the people who took hold of it from the commercial banks have not brought it out to circulate.
“They are withholding the money using various means including deploying agents who use multiple ATM cards to withdraw the money, colluding with their banker agents to continue to trap the moneys in the banks and buying off cash from business places that ordinarily make huge cash transactions like petrol stations, supermarkets and departmental stores.”