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It is laudable that the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has extended the naira swap deadline from January 31 to February 10 to enable Nigerians change the old naira notes with new ones. The CBN governor, Godwin Emefiele, announced the new deadline after getting approval from President Muhammadu Buhari. He further said that after February 10, the old naira notes would cease to be a legal tender. However, he assured Nigerians that the old notes would still be accepted after the deadline only at the CBN.
The CBN has also vowed that it would not extend the deadline again. Those who could not deposit their old naira notes after the new deadline can only deposit such notes at the CBN. According to the CBN governor, “riding on the provision of Section 20(3) of the CBN Act, Nigerians would be given the opportunity to redeem the face value of currency in their possession after it loses its legal tender status on February 10, 2023 deadline, only at the CBN.”
Emefiele says that no Nigerian will lose funds under the naira redesign project. The decision to shift the deadline for the naira swap initiative stemmed from mounting complaints from Nigerians over the scarcity of the new N200, N500 and N1000 bank notes. The scarcity of the new bank notes is more noticeable in rural areas and border towns without banking facilities.
The apparent hoarding of the new bank notes has stalled commercial activities throughout the country and subjected Nigerians to avoidable suffering and hardship. Apart from long queues at the Automated Teller Machines (ATMs) across the country, operators of Point of Sales (POS) terminals fleece customers with exorbitant charges. Most of them charge between N1, 500 and N2,000 for N10,000 withdrawals as against the normal rate of N200.
Unfortunately, most of the ATMs in Lagos and some other cities are not dispensing the new naira notes. The money deposit banks are also found wanting in this regard. The new naira racketeering has become a thriving business in Lagos, Abuja, Kaduna, Enugu, Port Harcourt and other Nigerian cities.
To ensure a seamless exercise, the CBN has reportedly deployed about 30, 000 super agents to work with its staff in the hinterlands to ensure that the underserved and vulnerable members of the society are adequately catered for. The apex bank also says that it is working with relevant agencies of the Federal Government to ensure that commercial banks comply with the guidelines for the seamless distribution of the new naira notes.
There are strong indications that the commercial banks are sabotaging the CBN’s plan to make the new bank notes available. The apex bank recently uncovered mismanaged N4 million new notes in a commercial bank in Ogun State.
In a related development, the Vice President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, has lent his support for the cashless policy. He said the policy would help to curb illicit election financing. The House of Representatives has also supported the programme. Beyond reducing illicit cash for elections, the redesign of the naira was also meant to bring in the N2.7 trillion outside the banking system and currently held in people’s homes.
This exercise, the CBN says, has unfortunately not been carried out in the last 19 years. The currency in circulation in 2015 was N1.4 trillion. And in October 2022, the money in circulation rose to N3.32 trillion. Out of this amount, more than N2.7 trillion was outside the banking system. Since the commencement of the naira redesign policy, the CBN has returned N1.9 trillion to the banking system.
While we applaud the extension of the deadline for the naira swap programme, we decry the scarcity of the new naira notes in almost all parts of the country. The blame game between the CBN and the commercial banks over the scarcity of the new naira notes is untenable and unconvincing. The CBN and the commercial banks should work together to ensure the availability of the new bank notes. The banks should stop dispensing the old naira notes as directed by the CBN.
Under the naira swap initiative, Nigerians must not be made to suffer to exchange their old naira notes with new ones. The naira swap project must be made to work efficiently. We call on the CBN to do all within its powers to make the new bank notes available to Nigerians. Let all erring bank officials and all those sabotaging the naira swap programme be adequately sanctioned.
