Residents of Lokoja, the Kogi State capital, are currently facing a shortage of both old and new Naira notes.
Customers converted commercial banks into night vigil centers Tuesday night to withdraw cash from the Automated Teller Machine, or ATM.
According to the kuryaloaded, several clients were still trapped in multiple banks in Lokoja, the Kogi State capital, as of 11:45 p.m. on Tuesday because they couldn’t access cash to complete transactions.
According to Ikechukwu Mpama, a financial expert who talked to kuryaloaded, the present cash constraint is putting additional hardship on Nigerians in addition to the fuel crisis.
He warned the Central Bank of Nigeria to sanction any commercial bank obstructing the government’s efforts to ensure the smooth circulation of the new currency.
An unidentified branch officer of one of the new generation banks informed kuryaloaded in Lokoja that they were helpless.
He stated that he had received a number of phone calls from customers, but that there was nothing they could do.
The senior officer said that the apex bank had not issued enough fresh naira notes to his bank to meet the influx of consumers.
According to kuryaloaded findings, the majority of customers met the earlier January 31 deadline set by the Central Bank of Nigeria.
The inability of banks to have enough fresh naira for clients, as well as the fact that banks were no longer issuing old naira notes deposited by customers, prompted the current cash crunch in the country, according to keen observers.
They urged the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, to expedite the release of replacement naira notes in order to alleviate customers’ concerns.
According to the kuryaloaded, one of the first generation banks in Lokoja reduced the amount a customer can cash from N20,000 to N5,000 each day on Tuesday. This is done so that more customers can access the updated notes.
Given the difficulty in cashing the new naira notes for payment, the authorities of various secondary schools in Lokoja have written to parents and guardians to pay school fees for their children and wards via mobile cash transfer.
Baptist High School, Lokoja, in one of such letters to parents, said: “Dear parents, please be reminded that school fees defaulters will not be allowed in school as from Monday 6/2/23. Transfer to a school account is permitted.”
The school, however, stressed the need for parents to support such payment with authentic receipt.
However, the tension created by the refusal of market men and women to accept the old naira notes prior to extension of the January 31 deadline, eased on Tuesday, with many dealers on foodstuff and other products accepting such currency from buyers.
Meanwhile, a large crowd of customers continued to be a visible feature in all the banks our correspondent visited in Lokoja on Tuesday, with most of them lamenting the pains they were going through.
