There are strong indications that many Nigerians are still having significant difficulties accessing the newly redesigned currency notes in Automated Teller Machines (ATMs) and banking halls across the country, twenty days after the release of the newly redesigned N200, N500, and N1,000 notes and 27 days before sunset for the old notes to cease being legal tender.
Investigations yesterday showed that angry bank clients in Ajah and Oshodi, Lagos, are pleading with the federal government and the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to extend the deadline to permit sufficient circulation of the new notes.
After CBN Governor Godwin Emefiele declared the new notes would be used nationwide by December 15, the development occurred a few weeks later.
The old N200, N500, and N1,000 notes were to be removed from circulation by January 31, 2023, according to the apex bank, after which they would no longer be considered legal cash.
The fresh notes, according to Emefiele, have already been distributed to the banks, who will then distribute them to their clients. Additionally, he asked Nigerians to deposit the denominations that needed to be changed at their respective banks, noting that those institutions would be open for business every week from Monday through Saturday.
The impacted notes’ legal tender status will expire on January 31, 2023, according to a countdown clock that can be seen on the CBN website. However, bank customers who used the ATMs in some locations in Lagos, Abuja, and other states of the federation over the holidays and yesterday, following the Yuletide holidays, complained that the machines were still dispensing only old notes. They are now dubious about the January 31 deadline and are pleading with the apex bank to extend its date.
When the CBN announced the revised notes, Mr. Uchenna Madabuchi, a spare parts merchant in Oshodi, remarked, “I knew there would be issues as I warned my colleagues, the notes would not circulate correctly owing to the “Nigerian factor.” I went to the ATM with the hopes of getting new notes, but it is only giving out the old ones. I hope the CBN is investigating this, and I advise they extend the deadline so that Nigerians, especially bank customers would have access to these notes”.