From.John Adams, Minna
As the January 31 deadline for the removal of the old naira note from circulation approaches, Traders in Niger state have requested the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to extend the January 31 deadline.
The Traders who did not give a specific date for the extension said their counterparts in the rural areas are yet to be adequately sensitised about the new banknotes, hence the need to extend the deadline.
The traders who made the appeal during a sensitisation visit to the popular Kure Ultramodern market in Minna, Niger state capital on the currency redesign by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) at
expressed their fears and concerns over the January deadline withdrawal of the old banknotes.
They argued that Traders in the rural communities have refused to accept the new banknotes as payment for transactions with them, adding that the banks and ATMs across the state are still dispensing the old banknotes.
They warned that Traders will incure huge losses if the Central Bank insists on The January deadline for the withdrawal of the old note from circulation.
One of the traders, Yusuf Mohammed told their visitors that apart from the inability of the Banks to dispense the new notes, those in the rural communities are not even aware of the new banknotes not to talk of the January deadline.
The Traders urged the CBN on the need for increased sensitisation, stressing that the January deadline can not stand.
The Market Woman Leader, Rebecca James lamented that the traders have refused to collect the new banknotes when it is being given to them for goods brought adding that it will cause difficulty for traders if the new banknotes are not accepted.
“I have heard what you have said but I am not satisfied because the banks and ATMs are still giving us the old banknotes. When we go to the bush markets, the villagers there are not collecting the new money. If you give them the new money alongside the old ones, they will pick the new ones out and tell you to change them.
“The traders in the villages and bush markets do not know about the new banknotes and they need to know. It would not be fair if they have money that they will not be able to spend or use if the CBN sticks to the deadline.
“More so that it is from these bush markets that we buy our goods, so there are a lot of challenges in these new notes, that is why we are asking that the withdrawal should be extended,” she said.
The Niger Branch Controller of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Ademola Mohammed Saheed assured that there are enough new banknotes in the CBN Treasury adding that banks and ATMs have started dispensing the new Naira notes.
“For six weeks now, we have not been giving the banks the old currency. The old currency still in circulation is there because of the quantum which is so much. We have been giving banks new currency to dispense and we have been calling them to come and collect the new banknotes as we have them in the treasury.”
Saheed said that the CBN has adopted a slow and deliberate way of dishing out the money to deemphasise the use of cash and promote the government’s cashless policy.
“We are not going back to the old ways of swimming in cash, we are trying to move away from heavy cash transactions. We are encouraging everyone to explore other channels of paying and transacting business. Cash cannot be eradicated but we are trying to deemphasise the use of cash.”
On the January 31st deadline, the Branch Controller said that it remains sacrosanct as there would be no extension unless the CBN Governor or the government decided otherwise.
A staff in the Currency Operations Department, Hajiya Hauwa Ndayako, warned the traders against trying to use blue go coat the old notes as it would not work stressing that the new banknotes have come to stay.
“People are saying it was blue that was used to change the colour. If you use blue on the old banknotes, it would not work. Don’t take the risk of waiting till 31st January, take your money to the bank now and start using the new banknotes. If the money remains with you after the deadline, it would just be paper of no use and no value. The money has come to stay.”