The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has reassured Nigerians of the availability of the newly-designed naira notes.
While there has been an outcry over the shortage of the new notes, the apex bank says it is working with stakeholders to address the challenge.
“CBN is committed to ensuring that the new Naira notes reach the hands of Nigerians as soon as possible,” the bank tweeted Thursday morning.
“In collaboration with EFCC and ICPC, CBN has been carrying out Banks’ Branch Spot-Checks on ATMs.”
‘No ATM is Giving Money’
Since the bank introduced the policy and set a deadline for the swapping of the new notes, the move has continued to generate reactions from Nigerians. This is due to the shortage of new notes.
One such person is Alexander Okwori who has spent the last two waiting at a cash dispenser. Like everyone else, he is trying to get his hands on new bank notes unveiled last October to replace the old naira, with a January 31 deadline to make the swap.
But days before the deadline, only a few banks were distributing the new notes, leaving many Nigerians, who are without bank accounts, without access to cash.
Under pressure, the government agreed to push the deadline back to February 10, but on Tuesday many banks were still unable to distribute the new notes.
“No ATM is giving money. I went to 10 banks, and there are no new notes,” said Okwori, who wonders how he will manage to buy food for the day.
His anger has reached the point where he has no intention of casting a vote on February 25.
