CUSTOMERS SWARM THE PREMISES AS BANKS WORK WEEKENDS IN ACCORDANCE WITH CBN INSTRUCTIONS.

As instructed by the Central Bank of Nigeria, banks in Federal Capital Territory (FCT) satellite towns opened for business on Saturday (CBN).

Huge throngs of clients were reportedly witnessed at banks’ Automatic Teller Machine (ATM) terminals, according to a News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) correspondent who monitored certain banks in the Territory.

Also, according to NAN, people could be seen lining up to enter the banking halls one at a time.

First City Monument Bank (FCMB), United Bank for Africa (UBA), Zenith Bank, First Bank, Fidelity Bank, Ecobank, and Access Bank are a some of the banks that have started operating along the Nyanya-Mararaba road.

Mrs. Ngozi Ugoh, an Access Bank client, claimed that despite being unaware of the CBN decision, she went into the bank to obtain some cash when she noticed a large throng there.

I was just walking by and spotted people, so I went inside to see if I could collect some cash. I wasn’t aware of the mandate to operate on weekends.

Another client, Mr. Andy Jerry, who was seen at Zenith Bank, characterized the change as positive.

He said that banks were carrying with the CBN’s order to work on Saturday and Sunday in order to postpone the Nigeria Labour Congress’ (NLC) planned demonstration against the central bank.

“I believe that the CBN forced banks to operate on weekends in order to prevent the NLC protest from happening.

He remarked, “I like this because it would allow them more time to access cash.

The CBN was praised by Miss Stephanie Ikpe for the instruction.

She claimed that the change will ease the widespread financial hardship people are currently facing.

Ikpe urged the CBN to keep an eye on banks to make sure they were still open on weekends.

Through the Acting Director of the Corporate Communication Department, the CBN announced on Friday that commercial banks had received a sizeable sum of money in various denominations.

Also, the apex bank ordered all commercial banks to be open on Saturdays and Sundays.