…As MDBs’ Customers Hoard Cash
Money Deposit Banks (MDBs) in Nigeria have begun to witness shortage of cash in their various branches across the country, Tentacle can authoritatively reveal. Officials of MDBs who confirmed shortage of adequate cash for withdrawal by customers, under anonymity because they are not authorized to speak officially on the mess, stressed that in the past one month almost all the MDBs in the country have been struggling to provide enough cash for their customers to no avail. They hinted that except the government through the apex bank takes proactive measures to avert the looming crisis, the coming Christmas and New Year’s celebration may be a bleak period for the citizens.
For example, customers of Access Bank Plc, Ojuelegba Branch, Lagos, were full of indignation and frustration on Monday, November 13, 2023 when the staff of the branch complained inexplicably that since over one month now the branch has not been paying cash to customers of Access Bank Plc who tried to withdraw cash from the branch, no matter the amount.
Tentacle’s investigation carried out among other MDBs in the country revealed that there’s not enough cash across the their branches all over the country. This medium gathered that the December 2023 deadline given by the Supreme Court to phase out the old Naira notes may have been partially responsible for the lack of cash in branches of MDBs as the apex bank, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), has allegedly begun to withdraw the old Naira notes from circulation.
It was also gathered reliably that because of the December deadline for phasing out of the old Naira notes, coupled with the CBN inability to replace the old notes completely, most banks customers have refused to deposit their new Naira notes to the banks for the fear that another cash scarcity may hit the country after the December deadline.
But the CBN had said Tuesday, November 14 that it intends to disregard the Supreme Court order and extend legal tender status of the old N200, N500 and N1,000 notes beyond the December 31, 2023 deadline with no definite time frame for their final phase out.
The Director Corporate Communications Department of the CBN, Dr. Isa Abdulmumin, in a statement said that the CBN decision was in line with global best practices coupled with the apex bank’s desire to ensure that there would be no repeat of the “Godwin Emefiele saga” again in the country.
“Thus, all banknotes issued by the CBN in accordance with the Section 20(5) of the CBN Act 2007 , will continue to remain legal tender ad infinitum, even beyond the initial December 31, 2023 deadline.
“The Central Bank of Nigeria is working with the relevant authorities to vacate the subsisting court ruling on the same subject “, the CBN said.
In spite of the CBN assurance, most banks’ customers, according to Tentacle’s investigation, insisted they would not go to banks to deposit their new Naira notes until the CBN has vacated the Supreme Court rule or phase out the old Naira notes. Banks’ customers who volunteered comments stressed that some mischievous lawyers and other citizens who do not favour President Bola Ahmed Tinubu administration can still approach the courts to enforce the deadline at the end of December to avoid government’s disobedience to the Supreme Court order.
Consequently, cash scarcity is likely to persist at the MDBs in the country through the yuletide unless the CBN takes proactive measures to vacate the CBN rule.
