As they stuffed their Automated Teller Machines (ATM) with outdated Naira notes, certain commercial banks in Abeokuta, the capital of Ogun State and other towns in the state appear to have disregarded the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).
According to DAILY POST, the CBN had already instructed that beginning on January 9 the new N200 notes shall be the maximum denomination that ATMs dispense.
But as of 10 p.m. on January 10, inspections by our correspondent revealed that nearly all the ATMs in the state capital, Abeokuta, and other towns such as Sagamu and Ijebu Ode were still dispensing the outdated N1000 and N500 notes.
The new N200 notes were not in use in Ogun, as noted by our journalist who drove about the town.
Ola Badmos informed our correspondent that “On Friday, a few banks in Abeokuta issued the new N200 notes and the N100 notes, but beginning Monday, those institutions had switched back to the old N1000 notes.”
The new Naira notes are not now accessible in banks, according to unnamed bank sources who questioned where the banks would get enough to stock their ATMs.
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“Banks are unable to store the new notes. You will undoubtedly see it in the ATM and at the payment counters if it is available. What do you want the banks to do, though, given that they have such a limited supply? Should the ATMs have been left unattended? A bank employee inquired.
In the meantime, the CBN on Monday instructed commercial banks to stop putting the
in order to guarantee that the newly designed naira notes are always available.
Additionally, the Apex Bank warned to punish institutions for disobeying the order.
The CBN Lagos Branch Controller, Godfrey Bariboloka Koyor, told participants in a stakeholder education exercise about the redesign of the currency that there are enough new notes to go around.
The old N200, N500, and N1000 notes are expected to be phased out of circulation by January 31 after the Naira redesign.
