The Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN in Abia State has promised to do all within their powers to ensure that Abians will not stress themselves much to have access to the redesigned new naira notes.
To this end, the apex bank also appealed to the masses to do their part by taking advantage of their directives to push all the old notes in their possession to the banks.
The CBN Director of Corporate Communication, Mr Osita Nwanisiobi during a sensitization of traders at Ariaria International Market Aba, said CBN has the authority to redesign the naira notes after a specific years.
Nwanisiobi who spoke on the overview of the new naira notes, said the aim of going to Ariaria was to continue their awareness and added that the CBN is monitoring to see what commercial banks are doing to circulate the new notes through their ATMs as directed and not through the counter.
He encouraged people to embrace POS, E-banking and other forms of transactions without necessarily carrying cash. Nwasiniobi further explained that the security features in the new notes have been enhanced, urging people to respect the country’s currency.
He stressed that the old notes will cease to be a legal tender by January 31st , 2023 and advised that nobody should listen to any social media report that CBN has shifted the date from January 31st.
He, therefore encouraged people to take advantage of the remaining days to deposit their old one thousand, five hundred and two hundred naira notes.
The Branch Controller, CBN Umuahia, Mr Olaoba Ayotunde said the new redesigned naira notes will check counterfeiting and enjoined Aba traders , as well as all Abians to accept the new notes.
On the other hand, the CBN has advised bank customers to lodge their complaints of disservice from any commercial bank to them through the Consumer Protection Department, CPD, CBN Abuja.
The apex bank gave the advice while monitoring banks in Aba and other parts of Abia state to ascertain their level of obedience to deposit the new redesigned naira notes into their ATMs to enable people to have access to the new notes.
The apex bank advised the public to use the numbers provided in the new naira notes fliers to lodge their grievances.
Speaking to our correspondent in Aba and Umuahia, some bank customers frowned that many banks in the state are not feeding their ATM machines with the new naira notes, thereby frustrating them after dropping their old notes to the banks.
One of them, a man who came to trade in Aba said the ATM machines he has used in Lagos and Abuja were loaded with the new naira notes and wondered why Aba will be different. Two ladies in Umuahia told our correspondent that “what is the need of dropping all the old notes we have only to come to the ATM and meet old notes again?”.
While monitoring banks in Umuahia, the team discovered that so many bank ATMs were not loaded with new naira notes.
Polaris ATM machines were paying new naira notes.
Fidelity bank ATM was not paying new naira notes as at the time of monitoring, as well as Zenith bank.
Interacting with newsmen after the monitoring, CBN Director of Corporate Communication Abuja, Mr Osita Nwanisiobi urged the people to exercise patients, while the banks are making efforts to load their ATMs with the new naira notes.
He debunked the rumour that bank managers were hoarding the new naira notes for very important personalities in society.
Nwanisiobi explained further that such a report made CBN to direct everybody to the ATM which does not recognize any person as special than others.
His words “we will not hesitate to sanction any bank that failed to yield to our directives, as some are yet to collect their allocation of the new naira notes because CBN is on the rap up stage”.
