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Naira crisis worsens, Emefiele justifies redesign
The crisis surrounding the naira redesign worsened on Tuesday as the Central Bank of Nigeria failed to clarify the legal tender status of the old notes.
The development created more confusion across the country amid the refusal by banks, filling stations, and traders to accept the old currencies.
This happened as a shortage of new notes persisted in states and the Federal Capital Territory.
However, the CBN Governor, Godwin Emefiele, on Tuesday ruled out further extension of the deadline stipulated for the phasing out of the old N1,000, N500 and N200 notes.
Emefiele made the disclosure during a meeting with members of the diplomatic community in Abuja.
He spoke against the backdrop of concerns generated by a Supreme Court order suspending the February 10 deadline pending the determination of a suit by some state governors slated for hearing on February 15 (today).
Amid Nigerians’ belief that the old notes would remain legal tender until the determination of the Supreme Court suit, the CBN governor told members of the diplomatic community that the apex bank would not extend the deadline.
Emefiele was however silent on the legal tender status of the old naira notes.
He said, “No doubt there are pockets of pressure in some areas. The CBN is working hard to shift pressure, and resources to those areas in order to ease the tension. The situation is substantially calming down since the commencement of over-the-counter payments to complement ATM disbursements and the use of super-agents. There is, therefore, no need to consider any shift from the deadline of February 10.”
Meanwhile, massive protests erupted in some parts of the country on Tuesday as commercial banks, filling stations and traders rejected the old notes from customers.
Hundreds of angry citizens who took part in the protests in Abeokuta, Sango-Ota, Ogun State and Akure in Ondo State kicked against the decision of the CBN to withdraw the old notes despite failing to provide the new notes in sufficient quantity.
However, a group in Abuja held a street demonstration in support of the CBN policy. The protesters, however, incurred the anger of street urchins, who attacked.
The protests occurred just as Emefiele announced during a meeting with the members of the diplomatic corps in Abuja on Tuesday that the extension of the February 10 deadline for the currency swap was no longer necessary.
He refused to extend the deadline less than 24 hours before the hearing of the suit filed by Kaduna, Kogi, Zamfara, Ondo and other states against the CBN demonetisation policy.
The Attorneys-General of the applicant states were expected to storm Abuja as the Supreme Court begins hearing the case on Wednesday (today).
But smarting from the hardship inflicted by the cash shortage, Ondo residents stormed the state branch of the CBN in the Alagbaka area of Akure to express their anger over their inability to swap the old naira notes for the new ones.
One of the protesters, who identified himself as Adeyemi said, “I collected old N1000 notes from my bank’s ATM in Alagbaka this morning but sadly the bank officials refused to collect old notes in the banking hall. In fact, I am confused. This is a bad situation in our country.”
Another protester said they were directed to the CBN to exchange their old notes by the commercial banks.
But contrary to an earlier directive by the apex bank, its officials in Akure refused to collect old naira notes from residents.
A CBN official explained that the apex bank could not help them.
“I don’t know why the people are coming to the CBN. They should rather direct their grievances to their commercial banks, not to us here. We don’t have any directives to attend to customers. But I know very soon this issue will be resolved,” he stated.
But as the number of protesters grew, the policemen drafted to the scene ordered them to leave the vicinity.
In Abeokuta, the Ogun State capital, scores of retail fish sellers under the aegis of the Association of Fish Sellers, also protested the rejection of the old naira notes which had affected their business.
Some demonstrators also shut down the busy Lagos-Abeokuta Expressway in the Sango-Ota area.
Fish sellers
The fish sellers lamented their inability to carry out transactions with the old naira notes due to the CBN cashless policy, stating that many businesses had shut down.
They added that both the banks and the wholesalers had refused to accept the old notes for transactions.
Speaking on behalf of the fish traders, Mrs Rasheedat Oyebola noted that their business might collapse due to the rejection of the old notes by the banks and cold room operators.
She said, “We have tried all that we could but to no avail. That is why we have decided to go around today to explain our plights to Nigerians, so the CBN governor can have mercy on us.
“Some of us here today are single parents and we have been struggling all our lives. If our cash is refused as legal tender, we may die. We appeal to everyone who can help us to, as a matter of urgency, come to our aid.”
The protesters at the Lagos-Abeokuta Expressway complained that they could not withdraw cash from the Automated Teller Machines at Sango-Ota. They made bonfires on both sides of the highway, causing serious traffic gridlock.
Some of the protesters told the News Agency of Nigeria that the current cash crunch had created serious pain and agonising moments.
The leader of the protesters, Mr Kazeem Sanni, described the situation where bank customers could not access their money as unfortunate.
“The situation is really pathetic as this has grounded and paralysed business activities. We decided to demonstrate to show our grievances as we can no longer bear this hardship,’’ he stressed.
He called on the CBN to urgently print more new notes and ensure that banks complied with its directives.
A protester, Mr Rotimi Odubanjo, noted that the inability to withdraw money from banks had inflicted untold discomfort on the people.
“We need the Federal Government to come to our assistance and ease this cash and fuel scarcity,’’ he said, adding that the twin scarcity of fuel and cash had crippled economic activities.
Police, military and paramilitary personnel were deployed at the scene to calm the situation.
In Abuja, a protest by supporters of the new naira policy turned bloody as street urchins invaded the venue and attacked the protesters.
The incident happened after a press conference was held by the Civil Society Organisations Central Coordinating Council.
The protesters had set out to march to the office of the Attorney-General of the Federation when they were attacked with cudgels, axes and other dangerous weapons.
During the fracas, journalists and protesters fled the scene but an unknown number of persons were reportedly injured.
An eyewitness, Audu Emmanuel, stated, “The thugs came out from nowhere and attacked our peaceful march. They were hitting everyone in sight, snatching phones, bags and everything they could lay their filthy hands on, especially the women.
“We believe the governors who were watching the press conference live mobilised these thugs. They may have been heading for the venue but met us on the march and attacked us. This should not be allowed in a city like Abuja.
“We had earlier accused the governors of mobilising violence and they have proved our intelligence right. The security agencies must rise to the occasion and stop them before it is too late.”
Pro-CBN protest
The National Coordinator of the CSOCCC, Obed Okwukwe, had accused 10 unnamed governors of masterminding the protests against the currency policy in their states.
Across the nation’s capital, many banks refused to accept the old notes for the second day, citing a directive from the CBN.
Many commuters were stranded as they could not get cash to take public transport as cab drivers refused to collect the old naira notes.
Narrating her ordeal, a secondary school teacher, Mrs Mary Kome, said she had been standing for a long time because she did not have the cash to pay the cab drivers.
Kome who spoke with our correspondent at Berger Bus stop, in Abuja said, “ I have been standing here for over one hour. Once the drivers come, they tell us if you don’t have your new notes, please don’t board the cab. We thought that was just a peculiar case, but I have stayed here for over one hour.
“I have tried to use the PoS machines but they also don’t have money. It’s a long distance to my house and I still need to cook and come back to town but I have no means of getting home unless a miracle happens.”
Another frustrated commuter, Mr Hassan Moyaki, bemoaned his plight and inability to get transportation back to his home in Zuba, a suburb of the FCT.
CBN governor
Meanwhile, Emefiele blamed those mopping up cash, hoarders and racketeers for the queues at the ATM points.
“We have also noticed that some Nigerians are capitalising on the time transition to charging exorbitant fees. These selfish actions for personal monetary gains are causes of hardship for Nigerians and come at the expense of lives and livelihood,’’ he said, assuring that the bank would provide the optimal amount of cash to s