Naira Deadline: Court, Banks, Church, Others Reject Old Notes, Ignore S’court Order

Afimag.com –

Some Commercial Banks, Churches, and Fuel Stations have stopped collecting the old naira notes from customers, contrary to the ruling of the Supreme Court stopping the Federal Government from enforcing the February 10, 2023, time limit earlier fixed for the currency swap.

Africa Investigative Magazine gathered that the banks declined to accept the old N1,000, N500, and N200 notes from depositors and Point-of-Service (POS) agents who flooded the area to lodge their cash.

In the United Bank of Africa (UBA), Ughelli Branch, customers including POS operatives were frustrated as the management paid deaf ears to their demands.

One of the Staff who spoke with AFIMAG on conditions of anonymity said the bank is between the devil and the deep sea, not knowing how to handle the current cashless policy as the bank has stopped collecting old naira notes and cannot dish out the required quantity of the new naira notes.

According to her, the bank is still in talks with the higher authorities and will take the final decision about accepting fully or rejecting the old naira notes on February 15, 2023.

For not having both the new and old naira notes, the bank, hence, resorted to N5,000 maximum withdrawal for customers and N10,000 for staff, and do otherwise for ‘ogas at the top’.

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In Saint Michaels Catholic Church, Ughelli, the old naira notes were also rejected as the parishioners were asked to explore the internet banking system to sort out their financial obligations with the Church.

Of the ongoing naira scarcity which has led to the buying of the local currency, only transporters, motorists, and tricycle operators accept the old naira notes without hesitation.

It was, however, learned that lawyers and litigants at high courts in Lagos State were unable to file their court processes using the old naira notes for payment, which is proof that even the court is rejecting old naira notes in presence of her injunction.

The CBN Governor, Godwin Emefiele, had met with President Buhari again at the Presidential Villa on February 13, 2023, over the troubling situation.

At last count, it was the sixth time they had private meetings since the naira crisis started, yet, failed to deal with the issue.