Lagos residents lament after accepting old naira notes from banks

Some Lagos residents have expressed regrets for collecting the old 500 and 1,000 naira notes from commercial banks after the Supreme Court judgement validating it as legal tender till December 31, 2023.

The residents said it had been challenging spending the two old notes as Nigerians were not accepting the money for their daily transactions.

They also said it was surprising that two days after the judgement, banks started paying between N5,000 and N10,000 per customer, compared with N3,000 and N5,000 that were dispensed from their Automated Teller Machines (ATMs) during the cash swap period.

A student of Lagos State Polytechnic, Ikorodu, Matthew Aburime, who expressed disappointment, said he has been unable to spend the money he collected from a bank.

“I came from Ikorodu to Ajao Estate to spend some time with my grandmother, unfortunately for me, when it was time for me to go back to my base, there was no liquid cash to be given to me.

“Someone, then, told me that a nearby bank was paying old notes. Since it was from a commercial bank, I felt they would pay based on the instruction of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).

“Then, I went and queued, eventually, I was able to withdraw N10,000 from the bank.

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“As we speak, the money is still with me, I’ve not been able to spend it; the first rejection was from commercial bus driver,” Aburime said.

Aburime urged President Muhammadu Buhari or the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Godwin Emefiele, to make a pronouncement on whether to accept it or not.

“They, being quiet is making people lose more money.

“Their quietness has also given some people the power to cheat and commit heinous act like the excess charges from the PoS agents,” he added.

A trader, Daniel Okpulonu, also shared the same regrets, saying: “When I realised that these old notes that I was receiving from my bank was not legal tender was when a bank official announced that people who had received the old notes should not bother bringing it back to deposit, as it would not be acceptable.

“As we speak, I am still going about with the money, looking out for where I can spend it. All to no avail.

“This is not good enough, government should come out and tell us what they want from us, Nigerians have suffered enough since the inception of this policy,” he stated.

A Clergy, Brian Achilefu, blamed the situation on the inability of many banks to dispense the old naira notes after the Supreme Court judgement.

“It is not a good sign when institutions begin to disrespect the authority of the Supreme Court.

“The CBN should obey the court ruling and do as it ordered so that people and everything can go back to normal,” Achilefu said.

However, Abimbola Alli, a trader at Jakande Estate Market, Okeafa, told NAN she only accepts new notes.

Alli said she took the few old notes that she accepted from her customers to the bank but she was turned back.

“Is that the situation that you want for me again? Never will I collect old notes again.

“Other traders are not collecting old notes in this market; I was the only one accepting it.

“When I could not deposit it in my bank and Okada riders also refused to accept it, I decided not to accept it anymore,” she said.

The Supreme Court, on March 3, ordered that the old naira notes should be allowed in circulation along with the new notes until December 31, 2023.

The Star