From Uche Usim, Abuja

As public anger over the scarcity of the new naira notes persists, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), on Thursday stormed various banks’ Automated Teller Machines (ATMs) to ascertain the level of compliance with dispensing the redesigned naira notes.

To the shock of the CBN staff, old and dirty notes gushed out of the ATMs of most banks visited in the sting operation.

Only a few ATM booths had the new naira notes, a development the apex bank said was totally unacceptable.

Speaking after the visit, a CBN Director and Managing Director of NIRSAL Micro-Finance Bank, Abdullahi Kure, said the monitoring of banks would continue, insisting that those found culpable of hoarding and diverting the new notes will be peppered with stipulated sanctions.

He said: “We’re taking stock to know those getting new notes and what they are disbursing or why they’re not disbursing. We’re monitoring to know whether the banks are hoarding, diverting or not even picking the new money.

“Appropriate penalties will be meted out where infractions are determined”, he said.

On possible extension of the deadline, Kure said: “At this point, I can’t say yes or no”.

He added that there has been massive deployment of CBN Directors across the country to deepen sensitisation on new naira notes and cash restriction.

He further revealed that the apex bank was consulting with religious leaders and traditional rulers to secure their buy-in and ultimately make the initiatives a success.

The ATMs visited were GTCo, Access Bank and Keystone Bank, all within the Wuse area of Abuja.

At the Access Bank in Wuse, the Operations Manager, Ugo Chinenye denied hoarding the new notes, stating that the bank loads the ATMs according to the volume of the new notes it receives from the apex.

At the palace of His Royal Majesty Adamu Baba Yunusa, Chairman Council of Traditional Rulers in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) appealed for a possible extension of the January 31 deadline to give room for more awareness especially at the grassroot level.

He said: “Some people have not seen or touched the new naira. We need more time for sensitisation. We also appeal for more employment opportunities for our people at the CBN to ensure fair representation”.

In his remarks, the Director General, International Centre for Islamic Culture and Education, Dr Kabir Kabo Usman said there was an urgent to speed up sensitisation on the new notes as the deadline was less than two weeks away.

“We need to act very fast to ensure people deposit all old notes at the banks and not lose their funds. We encourage the local businesses to go the banks and deposit old notes. We’re appealing to them. It’s good to have the buy-in of the followers.

“We shall remove the skepticism in people’s minds since it’s a policy of the government that came out of great research. The message will cut across all mosques in Abuja

“We also urge CBN to ensure the new notes are available for the people to use”, he said.

Customers who spoke with journalists lamented the scarcity of new naira notes.

Rufus Peterson, a Point Of Sales agent said his customers have stopped accepting the old notes from him, while the bank ATMs are still dispensing them.

“I’m in a fix. My business is suffering. My customers want new notes but my banks are disbursing old notes. This is a frustrating situation”, he lamented.

Salau Mahmoud, success Onoja and Joy Makir are all in the same situation with Peterson, even as they called on the CBN to end the new notes scarcity horror.

Meanwhile, the CBN said it would continue its nationwide sensitisation and public enlightenment exercise on its naira redesign project, even as the January 31, 2023 deadline for the retirement of the old N200, N500 and N1,000 draws closer.