Irrespective of the decision of the Supreme Court last week Friday ordering the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to release the old and new N1,00 and N500 notes, stating that they remain legal tender in Nigeria until December 31, this year, the apex bank is yet to obey the judgement, putting citizens in precarious situation, as they still grapple with currency scarcity.

Nigerians had hoped that with the conclusion of the Presidential and National Assembly elections, they would start living their normal lives again, but respite is yet to come as things have not yet normalised, raising speculations on whether there are some criminals in the financial sector who have connived with the CBN to steal the money deposited by citizens. 

Reports across the country show that Nigerians are suffocating in the banking halls even with their own monies as many could not access cash to purchase their basic needs. 

Most citizens are finding it increasingly difficult to go to work as most of them now spend so much time in bank premises and at ATM stands trying to get some cash, without success.

In the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), beginning from the ever busy Central Business Area to Wuse, Maitama, Asokoro, Nyanya, Kubwa and Garki, the situation is the same; long queues are seen at bank premises. 

While several customers are locked outside the banking gates, others that are deemed lucky to smuggle themselves into the banking halls are allowed to withdraw nothing more than N5,000 in the old N200 notes. This is what obtains in most bank facilities in Abuja, as the scarcity lingers.

It’s not funny at all as while the hapless citizens suffer, Point of Service (PoS) operators are smiling to the bank as they charge above N1,000 for every N10,000 withdrawn through them; some even charge up to N3,000 per N10, 000, raising suspicion on the sources of the cash they sell at such exorbitant price.

*Residents speak out

Mr. Clement Agbo is a PoS operator in Wuse; he told this writer that, “I paid about N30, 000 to get N100, 000 from where I usually get cash. So, tell me, how do you want me to get my money?”

Although Mr. Agbo refused to disclose where he usually gets his cash, he later revealed that he is being funded by commercial drivers who later sold the cash to him after he had collected the same from commuters.

This is the situation in the city; some get the cash and sell it to operators of PoS who also resell to their customers.

For Mr. Peter Onah, who resides at Nyanaya, a suburb of Abuja, he believes the presidential and national assembly elections have come and gone and with the winner already known, as announced by the independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), the government should have done the needful by asking the CBN to release money into circulation.

*Transportation

Commuters are also not finding the situation funny as they struggle daily to get to their business and/or work stations. To worsen the already daring situation is the return of fuel queues at filling stations across the city and environs.

During the week, the cost of boarding taxis within and outside the city was hiked as, for example, getting to the Nyanya-Mararaba route from Wuse-Berger bus terminuses that usually cost between N200 and N300 was N500. From Kwuba to Wuse-Berger had its fare hiked to about fifty per cent. This is true, with slight differences, in other routes within and outside the city.

The Naira re-design before the general elections, with its avowed benefits, only added to the misery of the hapless citizens. The policy was expected to bring solution and sanity to the numerous challenges bedelling the nation’s financial sector, but this has come with a plethora of agonies.

Recall that the apex bank’s management team while appearing before the Senate’s ad-hoc committee had argued that the bank re-designed the three major currencies, as it has been empowered by the Constitution. According to them, doing so would curb terrorism financing, mop up counterfeited old notes and most importantly lead to the recovery of N2.7 trillion which had been kept outside the banking system.

The markets in the city are not without their challenges as many small scale businesses (SMEs) are finding it very difficult to carry out their businesses. At the Utako Market, shoppers are these days seen begging traders to receive cash transfers for those without the PoS machines even as most traders complain of fake alerts which prompt some shop owners to refuse such transactions.

As of Wednesday last week when the winner of the presidential election was announced, Nigerians had thought that they would be let off the hook with the CBN flooding the system with new notes to enable them to return to their businesses without hardships. Alas, that was not to be as the cash crunch has continued. This situation has kept most residents at home as the streets, within and outside the city, are almost deserted.

Many SMEs businesses have been crippled; this evidence can be seen in the scanty customers in the usually overcrowded markets of Nyanya’s Wednesday markets as many customers and traders do not have enough or any cash for business transactions.

For Mrs. Grace Peter, who sells cloths at the Nyanya local market, she has been making little or no sales as the lack of cash has kept many of her customers away. (With reports by BLUE PRINT)