Millions of Nigerians have not physically seen or used the redesigned N200, N500, and N1,000 banknotes 17 days after their introduction by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).
Many people who spoke to the reporter for Prime 9ja Online in Abuja, Kano, and Lagos expressed concern about the lack of the new notes, particularly at bank ATM locations.
This worry comes less than 28 days before the CBN deadline of January 31 for the phase-out of the old naira banknotes.
On December 15, 2022, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) announced the introduction of the new banknotes, claiming that it was one of several efforts to combat corruption, curb inflation, and seize currency that was being used outside of the banking system.
Lagos
The older notes are still being given out, according to checks at ATMs in Lagos.
Customers who visited the banking areas before to the holiday also admitted to receiving the outdated currency. One of them, Miss Iyunade Phillip, stated, "On Thursday, December 29, I was given old notes at the bank. The new notes are quite hard to come by. Because the notes are not available, I'm not sure whether they will be able to meet the deadline of January 31.
Some bank employees in Ojo, Ikeja, and Agbara in Lagos and Ogun states said they had not received replacement notes, while others claimed the CBN was restricting the new notes, according to information obtained..
“We don’t have any new notes and have not been dispensing any in the last one week because CBN has not issued us any since the last one was disbursed,” said an Access Bank staff member at GRA Ikeja.
A Point of Sales (POS) operator in the Ogba area of Lagos, Mrs Zainab Ajibade, said she was still collecting the old notes because the new ones are hardly available. She said that banks are still issuing the old notes to them.
“They are still issuing the old notes to us and in some cases if you are lucky, you can get N2, 000 worth of new notes if you are making a withdrawal of N50, 000 or N100,000 depending on availability,” she said.
It was also observed that most customers who paid with cash at shopping malls and stores during the festive period used the old notes.
Hawkers make brisk business
Prime 9ja Online learned that the few altered notes that are in use are being used to their advantage by money hawkers.
They might charge as much as N10,000 per bundle in certain locations.
A bundle of brand-new N200 notes, worth N20,000, is offered for sale for N30,000, while N500 and N1,000 bills, worth N50,000 and N100,000, respectively, are offered for sale for N60,000 and N110,000.
An anonymous money vendor said that the fees were their profit.
“There are very few new notes in the market. It was a difficult task getting them during the festive period. We would have made huge gains if they were available. We also paid for the few new notes we got so we have to put the charges,” he said, noting that they couldn’t meet the demand of their customers who wanted the new notes for the celebration of the New Year.
Abuja
Our correspondent in Abuja saw that the new naira notes had not yet been entered into the ATMs at several of the banks.
Even though there were seven ATMs close to the GTBank in Jabi, none of them were dispenseing the new naira notes.
A security guard informed our reporter that the machines hadn't yet been filled with the new bills when she visited the bank yesterday.
The sort of money offered wasn't a worry for Danladi Isah, a bank client who withdrew money from one of the machines.
He said he was unconcerned since the old currencies were still accepted as legal currency and that he would use the notes he had gathered before the CBN's new policy went into force.
Philip Abu, a different client, said that the bank he visited was difficult since everyone was asking for the new banknotes. "What they did was to distribute a portion of the N1,000 notes to each person making a withdrawal; we even requested the N500 note, but they told it had been used up," a customer said.
At Zenith Bank in Jabi, the scenario was the identical; it was seen that those who took money from the ATMs did so with outdated notes totaling N1,000.
While a security guard verified that, Paul Obinna, a machine user, said that since the old notes could still be used for transactions, he had nothing to be concerned about because he just came to withdraw a small amount of money.
“People that need to be worried about the new notes are those that engage in huge transactions. For me, if I should withdraw N50, 000, all in old notes, I will spend them before the deadline takes effect,” he said.
Some bank customers however said that shortly after the December 15 roll out time, some banks issued pieces of the new banknotes.
Halima Musa, a Jaiz Bank customer in Gwarinpa, Abuja, said, “I went to withdraw N50, 000 from the bank and they added just two pieces of the new N1, 000 banknote to it.”
Kano
The scarcity of the new banknotes was also being felt in Kano. Some residents who use ATMs frequently said they were not yet dispensing the new notes.
Likewise, those patronizing PoS and the operators expressed similar views.
Audun Ghali is a marketer in the popular Singer food market and he said: “I went to ATM almost 10 times since when the new notes were released but yet it couldn’t dispense even a single N500 note of the new money.
“The only place one can get money is in the bank when you withdraw a huge amount. Even that is only if you are on good terms with the bankers,” Ghali revealed.
Nazifi Sani, another resident, said he withdrew N70, 000 from the ATM in the early hours of Monday, but all were old notes.
“In fact, they gave me new banknotes but it is the old version, not the new ones.”
Alhaji Nuhu Danliti, also a marketer, said the last time he withdrew money from the bank he got about two per cent in new notes from the total money. He also said his friend got N300, 000 when he withdrew N1 million from the bank.
“I used to do a lot of transactions as a marketer but I got the money once from the bank. For ATMs, it is not even there. I have never seen anybody that got the new naira notes from there. I withdrew N500, 000 from the bank and they gave 2%. My friend also got N300, 000 out of N1 million. That was the only time I got the new naira notes. And to tell you the truth, they are not qualitative. Some people are even rejecting it,” he said.
Jibrin Aminu, who operates a business centre including a PoS machine, said he has only seen the new naira notes once and it was brought by a customer who sent money to his relatives.
He said although he receives and sends money, he neither gets the new notes from the bank nor from people who come for transfer.
‘January phase-off sacrosanct’
The CBN had last week in a circular assured that “The current N200, N500 and N1,000 banknotes will circulate side by side with the redesigned banknotes till January 31, 2023, when the current notes shall be withdrawn from circulation and cease to be legal tender.
“The current banknotes remain legal tender till January 31 and should not be rejected as a means of exchange for purchasing goods and services.”
CBN also emphasised that there will be no extension after the January 31, 2023 deadline. It said: “There will be no extension, so citizens are advised to ensure they deposit all the N200, N500 and N1, 000 banknotes in their possession before the deadline of January 31, 2023.”
On December 22, 2022, the Deputy Governor of CBN, Aisha Ahmad, while briefing the House of Representatives on the redesigned naira on behalf of the Central Bank governor, Godwin Emefiele, said 500 million mint notes were ordered by the bank.
She however, did not state how much those notes were worth.
“I am unable to share that now, only because I want to give an accurate figure,” Ahmad responded to the lawmakers’ enquiries.
Efforts to get new information from CBN was not successful as the spokesman, Osita Nwanisobi, did not respond to the enquiries put to him yesterday most likely because of the public holiday.