Ocy Okpanku, executive director – investment, Enlaurels International Limited, has said that the hitches currently experienced in the distribution of the new naira notes is as a result of inadequate preparation by the money deposit banks.
Commercial banks in Aba, Abia State are rationing the new notes to few customers that make over the counter withdrawals, while the Automated Teller Machines (ATM) which is used by most customers are still dispensing old notes.
Okpanku, who said that he has not seen nor received the new naira notes, also said that corruption will make it difficult for the new notes to circulate well within the stipulated time by the CBN.
“I think that commercial banks may have not made adequate preparation for the new notes, if they had made adequate preparation, there wouldn’t have been these hitches that we are witnessing here and there.
“For me as an ordinary citizen, I don’t see anything wrong with the redesigning of the naira.
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“The only problem I have is the character of Nigerians, we are extremely corrupt and we would make it difficult to work. It will work, but corruption will create a lot of problems,” he said.
“A lot of cash was pulled away in secret places and they’re now been dug out from the ground and as they do all those things our Naira continues to depreciate”, he observed.
He likened the attitude of money deposit banks to Nigerian bureaucracy, while advising the CBN to use media and community town criers to educate Nigerians in rural areas, especially farmers and petty traders in the hinterlands on the new notes.
He stressed that with proper enlightenment, Nigerians would stop rejecting the new notes out of ignorance.
“CBN should embark on serious enlightenment campaign in the rural areas to educate the rural people on the features of the redesigned Naira notes”.
Meanwhile, BusinessDay checks revealed that Access Bank PLC in Aba, Thursday, increased their daily payment limit of the new notes to N10,000. But this is for only customers withdrawing money from the counter, while the Automated Teller Machines are still dispensing old notes.
