Commercial banks in Delta State on Saturday saw a surge of clients anxious to deposit their old naira notes before the deadline of January 31st, in accordance with the Central Bank of Nigeria’s (CBN) mandate.
Remember how commercial banks declared that their branches would be open nationwide on January 28 and 29, as instructed by the top regulatory bank, to accommodate more depositors with their old naira notes.
Our correspondent checked on Saturday and discovered that banks along the Warri-Sapele road, like
The ATMs and counters of Heritage Bank, Fidelity Bank, UBA, Sterling Bank, Wema Bank, Eco Bank, and First Bank were all accepting old money but not dispensing new notes.
As consumers entered the banking halls in groups, tallies were kept of the crowds who had surrounded the institutions.
Some consumers who talked to our correspondent were still grumbling about the absence of fresh notes because neither old nor new naira notes were being dispensed by ATMs, and no withdrawals were permitted across counters.
“I’ve had it with the system. However, I am at a loss because I have already taken all of my old naira notes to the bank, said businesswoman Aghogho Omonigho.
Despite the fact that our correspondent was unable to see any, traders were reportedly turning down old notes from customers in order to avoid getting caught by the deadline.
Some Point of Sales agents were observed generating significant profits from clients who prefer the new naira notes at Enerhen intersection and other locations in Delta, the area separating the cities of Effurun and Warri in the Uvwie Local Government Area.
Customers were charged N700 for a withdrawal of N5,000 in new notes and N200 for old notes.
The CBN governor’s representative and the head of the surveillance team, Mr. Sunny Daibo, told reporters in Koko, Warri North Local Government Area of Delta State, that the cash swap program for small-time traders has so far been effective.
He claims that, with the help of Point of Sales proprietors, the cash swap operation costs each individual small trader who does not have a bank account between N5,000 and N10,000.
“The goal of this cash swap initiative, which we are now engaged in, is to provide small traders without bank accounts with a cash swap of up to N10,000.
“The new money agent will collect your old notes and provide you new ones if you meet them.
“After covering the local governments of Warri South, Udu, and Uvwie on Thursday and Friday, we are currently conducting the same exercise in Warri North and Warri South West.
“The activity is currently educating people on the necessity of opening a bank account.
“The cashless policy is beneficial to Nigerians since maintaining currency is quite expensive.
Therefore, he said, “by the time we adopt this strategy, it will improve the economy, fight inflation, eliminate counterfeiting, and reduce crime, especially abduction.”
He emphasized that the January 31 deadline for the return of the old naira notes is still inviolate and urged Deltans to take advantage of the current favorable conditions.
“As of today, there will be no extension until CBN responds. There is no turning back; January 31st remains the due date.
Do the most of your transactions online and take your money to the bank.
“People are griping that they are disobeying the policy and not seeing the new notes.
“It appears they are not understanding the message, which is what this exercise is trying to do.
We aim to stop people from hoarding cash at home, he said.
