The cashless regime orchestrated hardship championed by the Central Bank Of Nigeria, CBN through the fiscal policy of naira redesigning has wrought untold hardship on the people of the country who are finding it extremely difficult to access the newly redesigned naira notes, and to add insult to injury customers of the banks are even finding it hard to access the old naira notes writes Chibuike Chiemerie
In September 15, 2022 when Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN under the governorship of Godwin Emefiele muted the idea of redesigning the naira notes, many Nigerians never envisaged the hardship that the policy would wrought in the society. Mrs. Judith Tamba is a businesswoman who deals in cosmetics in the Balogun market in Lagos State. She had goods to clear at the Apapa Port but her clearing agent needed some cash for logistics, Mrs. Tamba rushed to her bank to withdraw about two hundred thousand naira to mobilize her agent but met disappointment as she was refused access to the amount she was looking for on the premise that the bank was implementing the cashless policy as enunciated by the apex bank. Dejected Mrs. Tamba told her agent that she could not meet up but was reminded that she is should be prepared to pay demurrage for the delay in the clearing of the goods.
Theresa Itodo is a housewife based in Ajah, an outskirt of Lagos State, her case was pathetic. Mrs. Itodo has a five years old son who was running temperature and needed medical attention, and was rushed to the hospital for medical care, medical attention on the chap was delayed because the mother was unable to get money from Automated Teller Machine, ATM which was not dispensing money. Confused Mrs. Itodo rushed to the hospital to divulge her frustration but was greeted with the heart-wrecking news that her son had kicked bucket because no medical care was administered on him. These hardship and frustrations painted above have been the lot of many Nigerians since the implementation of the cashless policy was enforced by the apex bank last year.
Information at the disposal of this medium revealed that based on the hardship inflicted on the masses by the policy there have been staccato of protests across the nation. For instance, in Benin, the capital of Edo State, women and youths took to streets blocking major roads while protesting the non-availability of the new naira notes and even the old notes. Some women , according to reports monitored by this medium have concluded plans to walk naked on the major streets in various locations of the country to protest the alleged mopping of the little available new notes by the politicians believed to be sympathetic to the course of the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC.
Since the introduction of the cashless policy last year, investigation orchestrated by Tentacle revealed that the CBN had distributed the money to all the commercial banks across the nation to load in their various ATM but for reasons best known to the banks they refused to load the notes. The decision of the commercial banks to hoard the new notes had created panic withdrawals at the ATM that has no cash thereby causing long queues in all the ATM points scattered in the nooks and crannies of the nation. The usual response at the banking mall is that there is no money, both the old and new notes, thereby causing their various customers to wear long faces because they could not withdraw money they went to withdraw. An informed source revealed that the hands of the apex bank is tied because of most of the commercial banks that have been alleged to be hoarding the new naira notes are owned by the contemporaries of the CBN governor. Despite muted sanction against any commercial bank that default in dispensing the new naira notes, CBN is just barking and would not be able to bite because its governor Emefiele does not want to invoke the sledge hammer on the Chief Executive Officers of the commercial banks who were once his colleagues in the banking profession.
An informed source revealed that the deliberate attempt by the CBN to force Nigerians to embrace cashless policy is the main reason behind the allege hoarding both the new naira notes and old ones. According to the source, even after the extension of the widow time by 10 days, most ATMs and POS scattered across the nation have no notes to dispense whether it is old or new. Some of the correspondents who spoke to Tentacle said that there is scarcity of cash whether in the POS or ATM. “I needed to withdraw some cash to buy soup condiments for my family; I have traversed all the ATMS around my area as well as POS, their response has been the same: “there is no cash”. What do I do now?“, laments Mrs. Agnes John a housewife who resides in Isolo area of Lagos State. The frustration exhibited by Mrs. John appears to be the lot of many Nigerians who are being forced to embrace the cashless policy of the governor of CBN as endorsed by President Mohammadu Buhari. Checks monitored by this medium at most of the ATMs across Lagos State revealed that the ATM is not dispensing money to the frustrated public, and in any occasion the machines dispense money you cannot withdraw more than twenty thousand naira a day. Findings revealed that the economic activities are at standstill because of the policy as there are hiccups in many business transactions. According to the findings, many of the monies transferred in adherence to the policy were stalled due largely to network inefficiency across the country.
In Abuja customers of commercial banks got the shock of their lives when they were told in the various banking malls that there are no new and old notes to give to them, a situation that created a temporary paranoid among customers who threatened violence in all the banking malls but the intervention of security personnel. One of the customers who were visibly angry said that the policy had crippled his business because he must have cash on daily basis for him to remain in the kind of business he is doing, adding that he has staffers he is paying on day-to-day basis. “What kind of country is this, no food, no money, no job, insecurity abound everywhere, government of the day has killed us”, laments Dennis Okorie, customer of one of the commercial banks located in Abuja.
Information at the disposal of this medium revealed that some Nigerians who braved it to go to their banks for withdrawal were shocked to be told that there are no new notes to be given, and even there is paucity of the old ones. Some of the customers at the banking mall were wearing long faces because their hopes of withdrawal of their hard earned money were denied. An informed commercial bank source told this medium that it is not in the character of the banks to hoard the notes but the paucity of the notes as the apex bank is alleged to be rationing the new notes to the commercial banks. Investigation has it that most of the commercial banks are hoarding the new notes, otherwise why would the new notes find their ways in the hands of few people in social gatherings in some metropolis? It was gathered that the commercial banks are racketeering the notes to the highest bidders hence the paucity. According to sources, the apex bank had coded the new notes that any commercial banks that are involved in shady deals with the new notes would be easily located. However, as at the time of filing this report, no arrest has been made as infractions allegedly committed by some commercial banks abound.
The apex bank in a bid to cushion the hardship of the cashless policy has inaugurated 30,000 people that would go around the local councils’ areas across the nation to affect the naira swap at no cost. The group has been empowered by the apex bank to swap the old notes for new ones at no cost. The group is largely going to focus on the rural areas where there is absence of banking. The complaint in some of the rural areas is that these agents of the banks are nowhere to be found. Investigation revealed that the number accredited for such job by the apex bank is not enough to touch every nooks and crannies of the country.
In a bid to assuage the sufferings of the people, the apex bank has authorized commercial banks to pay the new naira notes over the counter as ways and means of making sure that the new notes is made available to customers. The apex bank has threatened commercial banks that is involved in the hoarding of the new notes would be sanctioned within the ambit of the law guiding the banking sector. Sources close to the apex bank revealed that a task force has been set up to secretly go around commercial banks across the nation.
