As commuters walked down the popular Berger pedestrian bridge in Lagos, they heard drivers in small yellow commercial buses known as ‘Korope’ yelling, ‘No new naira note, no entry,’ leaving many confused.
Nigerians have raised concerns following the scarcity of the new naira after the N500 and N1000 old naira notes ceased to be legal tenders on February 10, 2023, according to the naira redesigned policy of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).
The CBN commenced the distribution of the new naira notes on December 15, 2022, as the old ones were supposed to be invalid from January 31, 2023, a deadline that was later extended to February 10, 2023.
However, poor circulation of the new notes after many Nigerians rushed to deposit the old notes, resulted in the scarcity of cash across the country, with adverse impact on businesses, trade and other daily activities that require an exchange of cash.
According to BusinessDay findings, some transporters still accept the old naira currency despite the phase-out, others do not mind accepting transfers, but some insist on payment with the new notes.
Samuel Olumide, a commuter, told BusinessDay how he became stranded on the Victoria Island part of Lagos due to his not being able to have the new notes.
Read also: Protest on Lagos-Ibadan Expressway over new naira shortage
He also said that Point of Sale (POS) agents are having difficulties getting the new naira notes, which also makes it difficult for people to get from them in time of need.
“It is tiring, the situation Nigerians are facing daily. In most cases, I find it extremely difficult to get the money to get home because of not having cash,” he said.
“I planned to use the new naira note to board a bus from Onike to Bariga, but the driver was going to give me old notes as my balance. Seeing the troubles, a lot of people are having with the old notes in Lagos, I got off the vehicle and decided to go trekking,” Serah Mobolaji, a worker, said.
In hopes of receiving money from his bank, Kunle Jegede, a contract staff in a construction site, claimed to have exhausted his last cash to get to work. This was why he made it to a bank ATM in Lagos at 8 am but was disappointed as he was the 156th person in the ATM queue.
POS agents — who essentially act as human ATMs across the country — have increased their commissions on cash withdrawals to about 10-20 percent due to the struggle to get cash from the banks.
Damilola Adegbite said she had to pay 20 percent of her N5,000 withdrawal to a POS agent.
She said it was primarily for transportation, as she had recently resorted to money transfers in order to purchase other necessities like food.
“To avoid being stranded, I had to pay N1,000 to get N5,000, which I want to use for transport to go to work because I have been using internet banking to pay for every other thing I need to buy,” Adegbite said.
Nigeria’s naira redesign policy has witnessed resistance as some state governments took the Federal Government to the Supreme Court to get an interim order directing the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to halt.
However, Godwin Emefiele, CBN governor on Tuesday said February 10, 2023, deadline for phasing out the high-value naira stands.
