As the time to phase out the notes approaches, Mr. Kofo Salam-Alada, the director of the Central Bank of Nigeria’s Legal Services Department, has declared that the organization will be severe on banks that continue to load their ATMs with outdated naira notes.
He claimed that banks that continued to use outdated naira notes in their ATMs were already under CBN surveillance.
At a Wednesday event in Lagos’ Computer Village Market to raise awareness of the new naira notes, the director who was the CBN Governor’s representative, Godwin Emefiele, addressed.
He said, “I can tell you today that the CBN on daily basis issue out the new notes. As we speak, banks are with the CBN taking money. We are actually begging banks to come and take money from Central Bank. We have these new naira notes in our vaults and we are begging banks to come and take it.
“We found out that a lot of things are happening that we need to checkmate, so we stopped withdrawal of new notes over the counter to ensure that everyone can have access to it and not one chief who is known to the manager, walks in, and carts away all the new notes in a particular branch. That is why we said it should be in the ATMs which cannot distinguish people.
“We also have monitors going around banks now. I have been to some ATMs this morning and I have done the reports. We are not mobilising the masses against the banks because the banks are there to serve you, but be rest assured that they will serve you now that they know that the CBN is on them to serve you with the new naira notes.”
He stated anyone caught selling the new notes or any denomination of the naira will be punished in response to questioning from market traders about why some people were selling the new notes.
The new naira notes are a fantastic move, according to Timi Davies, president of the Coalition of Associations in Computer Village, who spoke about them.
He said, “But unfortunately, the new notes are not well circulated within our market. The ATM machines are not dispensing the new notes and only a few privileged ones seem to be having access to the new notes.
“We want to encourage the CBN and the government to enforce the deadline on the banks. There should be no bank that should not be giving the new naira from their ATMs. All ATMs should load the new notes. As we are giving the old notes, we should be able to get the new notes. If the ATMs are not dispensing, the new notes will not flow around.”
Chief Lateef Oluseyi, the Olukosi of Ikeja Land, told the CBN that the traditional ruling house will assist efforts to educate the populace.
He refuted claims that the new naira was not reliable.
He claimed that the new notes, which had more than 35 security measures, were difficult for counterfeiters to produce.
