Days after the Supreme Court’s ruling overturning the Central Bank of Nigeria’s (CBN) decree to stop accepting the old and new Naira notes as legal cash as of February 10, Nigerians still have not had access to the currency.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that despite residents spending hours in line at ATMs and points of sale, Deposit Money Banks (DMBs) in Abuja have yet to demonstrate compliance (POS).
The use of specific denominations of old Naira notes as legal money till December 31 was approved by the Supreme Court on Friday.
The old and new notes, including the N20, N50, and N100 notes that weren’t redesigned, weren’t there when some DMB branches in Abuja were visited.
The bank has not begun paying out the old notes since the CBN has not issued an instruction, according to a bank official who asked to remain anonymous and spoke to NAN.
The official claims that we do not even have old notes to give to clients and that the CBN has not started distributing the notes.
NAN’s findings showed that the Federal Government’s apparent non-compliance was caused by its inability to obtain the Certified True Copy (CTC) of the apex court’s ruling.
A Federal Ministry of Justice employee who requested anonymity said that before the government can order the CBN to obey the ruling, it must first collect the CTC.
He claimed that efforts were being made to acquire the Supreme Court’s ruling.
NAN cites the Supreme Court’s decision to nullify the Naira redesign policy as a result of the lack of proper consultation and compliance with constitutional requirements.
As a result, the top court mandated that the old and new Naira notes be used concurrently until December 31.
The court determined that the Federal Government’s three-month deadline was also in conflict with the CBN Act.
Mr. Okechukwu Unegbu, a financial expert, applauded the Supreme Court for allowing the use of both the old and new Naira notes.
The Naira redesign policy, according to Unegbu, a former president of the Chattered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria (CIBN), has caused undue suffering for Nigerians.
Unegbu claims that the ruling of the supreme court has rendered the CBN’s actions in relation to the Naira redesign initiative invalid.
He urged the CBN to act quickly to release the more than two trillion Naira in old currency that it had collected via DMBs.
In other words, everyone should obey, including the President and members of the National Assembly, and the currency should return to its previous state.
“In my opinion, this is a wise choice because many individuals have been hurt. Due to a lack of money available from banks, many people were unable to purchase food and medications.
“The apex bank said it had swept up almost two trillion Naira of the previous currency, and they should put out that money through the banking system so that people may acquire money to move on and perform their enterprises,” he added.
Unegbu encouraged the CBN to implement the cashless policy gradually to spare Nigerians, particularly the rural population, any hardship.
“The cashless strategy is fine, but the CBN should have begun implementation in stages given the status of the economy and the level of illiteracy.
Before extending to rural areas, the cashless policy should be implemented in urban and commercial hubs like Lagos, Abuja, Port Harcourt, and Kano.
“Because to the nature of the Nigerian system, you cannot make such a broad judgment.
In remote areas, where some people haven’t even seen the new notes, the cash crunch is severe, according to Unegbu.
He advised the CBN to start over and devise a more efficient and manageable way to implement its financial inclusion effort and cashless policy.
Also, Dr. Tope Fasua, an economist, pleaded with President Buhari to order CBN Governor Godwin Emefiele to immediately comply with the Supreme Court’s ruling by making both the old and new Naira notes available to Nigerians.
For the cashless program to be successful, Fasua also encouraged the CBN to guarantee fully functional internet capacities.
He claims that financial inclusion and cashless policies are slow processes that take time for banks to build out their infrastructure and capacity.
“There is no nation in the world where everyone has access to financial resources, and there is no nation where all transactions are conducted in cash. It requires work and slow, steady improvement.
Individuals should be permitted to adopt cashless practices on their own, not through punishment, he said.
According to Fasua, the recent shortage of currency caused by the CBN’s policy to redesign the naira has alienated Nigerians from the cashless agenda.
“I have spent the last two hours trying to complete a USSD transaction; I have attempted numerous times without success.
He explained, “This is because the banks’ platforms are congested and cannot handle the kind of spike they are experiencing.
But, he claimed that as more Nigerians adopted the Naira redesign program, the apex bank has seen some success.
When the DMBs enhance their internet banking capabilities, in his opinion, Nigerians will feel even more at ease with the policy.
Fasua praised the Supreme Court for its ruling on the redesign of the naira as well as for extending the legal existence of the previous N200, N500, and N1,000 until December 31.
“It’s a relief that the Supreme Court reached that conclusion because the policy has been difficult and appears to have diverged from its original goals.
People are no longer spending, even if they are able to obtain the new Naira notes; instead, they are simply holding on to them. Transactions have slowed down, especially at the micro level.
“Banks had begun to close their locations indefinitely because they were unable to handle the demand from consumers who wanted to withdraw cash. I doubt that was the intended outcome,” he remarked.
