Barely few days before the 2023 elections, Nigeria’s financial sector witnesses deep confusion over the Central Bank of Nigeria’s (CBN) inconsistent directives.
A few hours after reports surfaced that CBN had authorised commercial banks to collect old N500 and N1,000 notes, the apex bank issued a denial.
BrandSpur Nigeria reports that this is after top banks like Ecobank, First Bank, and UBA had asked customers to come and deposit based on the first order given by CBN.
While denying the earlier order credited to it that banks should collect old N1000 and N500 notes, CBN declared that commercial banks that do that, do it at their own risk.
Quoting a top management staff of the CBN, PUNCH Newspaper had earlier reported that the apex bank had ordered deposit banks to collect the old notes.
The statements also added that the banks would open on Saturday to collect up to N500,000 if the old notes each from customers.
CBN said in the statement, “The attention of the Central Bank of Nigeria has been drawn to some fake and unauthorised messages quoting the CBN as having authorised the Deposit Money Banks to collect the old N500 and N1,000 Banknotes.
“For the avoidance of doubt, and in line with Mr. President’s broadcast of February 16, 2023, the CBN has been directed to only reissue and recirculate the old N200 banknotes and this is expected to circulate as legal tender for 60 days up to April 10, 2023.
“Members of the public should therefore disregard any message and/or information not formally released by the Central Bank of Nigeria on this subject.”
Osita Nwanisobi, Director Corporate Communications, had earlier confirmed the development to journalists.
Meanwhile, commercial banks had issued public notices instructing customers to bring old notes beginning Saturday before CBN worsened the situation with their denial.
“Dear Valued Customer, This is to inform you that our branches shall receive old N500 and N1000 notes of up to a maximum of N500,000 (Five Hundred Thousand Naira) after registration on the CBN portal. Please note that deposits of more than N500,000 (Five Hundred Thousand Naira) should be taken to the nearest CBN location.
“In addition, our branches will be open tomorrow, Saturday 18 February 2023 to receive old notes,” a notice issued by one bank read.
Despite the denial, the website of CBN as of 7:22 pm on Friday, showed that the CBN still has a form for depositors of old N1000 and N500 notes, indicating depositor could choose a commercial bank to deposit their money.
Recall that following President Muhammadu Buhari’s directive that Nigerians return old N500 and N1000 notes to the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), many people flocked to the apex bank’s offices across the country on Friday.
People began lining up as early as 1 a.m. in front of the CBN office in Marina, Lagos, where there was an uncontrollable crowd.
Later, people were asked to return to their respective Deposit Money Banks (DMBs) to store old notes after the exercise appeared to get out of hand and bank officials found it difficult to control the crowd that kept growing with time.
The Central Bank of Nigeria last October announced that it was redesigning the N200, N500 and N1,000 banknotes, stating that old banknotes would no longer be accepted as legal tender from January 31, 2023.
This has led to avoidable suffering as a result of the acute scarcity of the newly resigned N200, N500 and N1,000 notes.
Many Nigerians’ lives and livelihoods are being disrupted daily due to the paucity of new Naira notes arising from the recent Naira redesign policy of the Central Bank of Nigeria and fuel scarcity and price hikes across the country.
In Kano a pregnant woman, Shema’u Sani Labaran, has died in the Abdullahi Wase Specialist Hospital over alleged negligence from doctors as a result of the new naira policy crisis.
The late woman’s husband, Malam Bello Fancy, said her death was as a result of delay in transfer made to the bank and that the doctors didn’t attend to his wife for more than three hours.
Speaking to Freedom Radio, Malam Fancy, said he took his wife to the hospital when she was about to deliver, but that the hospital rejected his old naira notes and also had no POS, hence that they asked him to deposit the money in their account.
A farmer in Ibadan and convener, Farm Advocacy and Rural Development Center, Suberu Bose Ruth posted on facebook how the no cash has almost cost her the entire farm fields due to difficulties in mobility, purchase of inputs and also fuel to power the farm’s irrigation system.
She said, “This is frustrating, no cash, I left my farm base as early as 6am in other to get fuel for irrigation, I couldn’t get cash and had to transfer from my GTBANK account to the gas station’ FIRST BANK account, I was debited, got an sms but the gas station’ account hasn’t been credited as such I can’t get fuel. This is terrible but am holding my peace”.
Also, a Kaduna resident, Badamasi Aliyu, said that he was forced to relocate to a hotel close to the CBN office the night before so he could get there early enough.
Aliyu, who got to the CBN office at 3am, said he was given number 134 tag, but when the exercise got seemingly out of hand and the bank officials found it difficult to control the crowd that kept increasing with time, people were asked to return to their respective Deposit Money Banks (DMBs) to store old notes.
The lost of a close relative of Mr Akaazua Barnabas Wanger from Benue State whom the hospital refused to treat because she had old Naira, and before the family could raise new one ones it was too late was another terrible incident the hardship of naira notes seap policy on Nigerians.
Political pundits believes that the People Democratic Party (PDP) appointed CBN Governor, Mr. Godwin Emefiele is doing everything possible to frustrate the APC from winning the presidential election.
Mr Emefiele whose survival in an All Progressives Congress (APC) government despite untold breaches including a daring move to run for the Presidential ticket and even a terrorism affiliation allegation has been the stuff of interest to political watchers.
It was said that Godwin Emefiele was nominated by Jim Ovia to Goodluck essentially as a money launderer, and having executed this operation for ages was successfully installed after mindless bribery of major legislators was promised and commitments made to enable PDP loot the treasury in 2015 election cycle.
Unknown to PDP, their nominated two faced governor first “unclass” act when the Buhari administration resumed office was to provide receipts of transfers he made to the party and enemies of the President, to quickly warm his way into his heart while submitting to fund the president programs especially agriculture and manufacturing to anchor his helpfulness during the dark days of the 2015/16 recession. This included ways and means advancement above legal limits to bail out states and the Federal government to avoid shutdown.
To further warm himself to the President, the CBN was the direct sponsor of the treatment of the President overseas when he was ill using his robust corporate social responsibility (CSR) budget as an independent institution to buy access to the Villa, and for which the President always feel indebted.
In addition to this, he also ensured the inner cabinet of the President benefitted enormously from Central Bank largesse of multiple forex rates that enabled them reap boundless legal profits every week by allocation $1 million weekly to the members of the “cabal” who have in turn promised to protect him. Indeed, BDC licenses and other largesse were faithfully doled out to these non -APC members who practically hijacked the Buhari government during his first tenure when he was not healthy and were the arrow head of cutting the Vice President to size in the second term.
It was said that one of the closest aides to the President who was a known recharge card seller prior to 2015 is now a choice property owner in Dubai, while he has faithfully served as a mole in the office of the President to secure appointments and offer protection to the Governor who was encouraged to disrupt the party primaries last summer by seeking such elective office while refusing to resign. The said arrowhead is said to be very good at reading the President’s mood and supplanting the desires to discipline Emefiele (even when he annoys the President and the party apparatchiks call for sanction), because of his filial relationship to Buhari who is widely said to value loyalty more than any other attributes in aides.
Notwithstanding this situation, upon Emefiele’s loss of APC’s ticket, the arrowhead working with some fifth columnists reliably settled on Governor Emefiele original “PDP” origin to engage Abubakar Atiku to continue their reign of madness after 2023 in the Central Bank on the condition of backing him.
This deal was finalized (away from the President’s keen eyes) in November/December 2022 during Emefiele’s long sojourn overseas when the Department of State Service sought him out on corruption charges and affiliation with terrorists which was said to have occurred when he sought to buy a banking license through fronts from the Middle East.
The deal with PDP which was arranges by Emefiele’s townsman, Vice Presidential nominee of the PDP and Governor of Delta state Okowa, was designed to give the PDP leverage in using the inefficiency of the current government during election period by way of Sabotage of currency and fuel distribution operations. It was however the CBN Governor who first gave the idea after he got presidential approval for changing the colour of naira notes. Indeed he had the power to make forex scarce also for NNPC as APC entered the last Christmas before elections.
It took direct intervention of the fifth columnists again to bring the Governor back to Nigeria after a massive widely reported contention between the DSS and the Nigeria Intelligence Agency for which the aide of the President worked. It was NIA that released spurious intelligence to cover the CBN governor that his work with the terrorist organization was a sting operation by them, that enabled DSS to stand down.
As soon as Emefiele returned, he was back to work on the grand plan to destroy APC leveraging a policy he had sold an APC President on security and anti-corruption grounds (two of his favorite subject) before his ill-fated travel to deal with Atiku and PDP.
