There is no denying the fact that the Central Bank of Nigeria’s (CBN) announcement on Wednesday, October 26, 2022, at a press conference that it would redesign the N200, N500, and N1,000 notes and that they would be in circulation from December 15, 2022, in few weeks culminated into the disruption of the ease of transacting business, particularly from the perspective of buying and selling so much so that not a few Nigerians suffered from the brunt of the policy.
The directive. no doubt triggered an unwholesome situation that made Nigerians witness a shortage of both the old and the new naira notes in circulation, thereby compelling them to frustratingly kept searching for the notes across banks and shops owned by Point Of Sale (POS) operators at a cut-throat price as they struggled to beat the deadline for the withdrawal of the old naira notes from circulation as directed by the CBN.
It will be recalled that a few weeks after the CBN made its directive on the monetary issue known to the public that not a few banks on a daily basis attended to hundreds of customers who were seen inside banking halls trying to deposit their old naira notes, even as most of the customers expressed worry over the delay and “sluggish responses” of the Tellers who continually blamed poor service network for tardy services being rendered to them.
The situation was so frustrating that even pregnant women, nursing mothers, and the elderly were by each passing day seen seating either on the floor or staircase of the banking halls as they waited for bank service networks to improve.
Thus, most of the affected customers usually seen at various banks during the challenging period were observed to be POS operators, who have come to deposit old notes received from their customers. Without resorting to exaggerating the issue in this context, it is germane to say that the cash crunch situation concurrently prevailed with the now-receding petrol scarcity so much that not a few Nigerians for more than three months were unable to access cash for day-to-day transactions, and thus resulted to mounting pressure across not a few households.
Against the foregoing backdrop, it is not unexpected that virtually everyone that passed through the grueling experience of the scarcity of cash has been gripped with anxiety as the deadline for the phasing out of old notes slated for December 31, 2023, is fast approaching.
The reason why Nigerians are gripped with anxiety cannot be farfetched as there is no denying the fact that they might have learned from experience, given the fact that confusion surrounded the deadline for the phasing out old notes following the order of the Supreme Court that restrained the federal government from banning the old naira notes, thereby leading to the December 31, 2023 deadline which they now look forward to.
The deadline culminated in the current situation that resulted from the Supreme Court’s verdict that the N200, N5000, and N1,000 notes temporarily remain legal tender. For the sake of clarity, the Supreme Court suspended the February 10, 2023 deadline for the use of the old N1, 000, N500, and N200 notes.
Despite the fact that the deadline to phase out the old notes is fast approaching, it is surprising that the newly redesigned notes across the denomination of N1000, N500, and N200 are not commonly found in circulation. If I may ask, does it mean the CBN did not print enough of the redesigned notes?
Be that as it may, it is expedient to urge the leadership of the CBN to be more pragmatic in the implementation of the much anticipated cashless economy, particularly as December 31, 2023 deadline beckons.
As gathered from Dataphyte, an online statistic-driven news website, “Nigeria’s currency in circulation is lowest in 15 years”.
As analyzed on the platform, “A review of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN)’s Money and Credit Statistics has shown that money in circulation in the country has decreased from N3.1 trillion in December 2022 to N982 billion in February 2023, represents a 68.3 percent decrease over the period.
It says the CBN is responsible for making the naira available for transactions in the country, and that in the last 15 years (since 2009), currency in circulation has never dropped to N982 billion. The lowest was in December 2009 when it fell to N1.181 trillion,
It added that Nigerians have been experiencing a scarcity of cash, as the currency in circulation slumps from N3.2 trillion in December 2022 to N1.386 trillion in January 2023.
Against the foregoing backdrop, it is expedient to urge the leadership of the CBN to work harder to avoid what happened during the cash crunch challenge as December 31, 2023, is fast approaching.
It would be recalled in this context that the CBN’s Governor, Mr. Godwin Emefiele in February 2023 seemingly swanked that the Nigerian Security Printing and Minting Company Plc (NSPMC) has enough materials to print the new Naira notes. Speaking through the spokesman of the apex bank, at the time under reference in this context, Osita Nwanisiobi in a statement said “The NSPMC has the capacity and enough materials to produce the required indent of the Naira. Putting the foregoing into consideration, it is expedient to urge the leadership of the apex bank to put words into action by ensuring that new naira notes are widely circulated even as the old notes would be withdrawn from circulation come December 31, 2023.”
Another strategy that the leadership of the CBN should adopt ahead of December 31 is to implement, strengthen and sustain its efforts to sanction erring POS operators across the country.
Recall that the apex bank in February 2023, vowed to prosecute POS operators who collect exorbitant charges for transactions. Emefiele had at a meeting with members of the diplomatic corps issued the threat while acknowledging the inconveniences caused by the naira redesign policy including hoarding and an elevated agitation. Against the foregoing, he promised to prosecute PoS operators who charge above the stipulated amount.
He admitted that while Nigerians were in challenging times, he urged them not to exaggerate the situation, especially by people in authority who were noted to be creating panic.
The apex bank boss reiterated the benefits of the naira redesign, arguing that it has helped in reducing inflation and is leading to a moderation in exchange rates as he appealed to the diplomatic corps and Nigerians to accept the policy.
Another group of reapers (apology to Portable, the “ZaaZu” Crooner), whom the apex bank should beam its searchlight on are professional bankers that were highly suspected, during the period of cash crunch of allegedly hoarding naira notes in the banks, and consequently doing business with them, particularly with POS operators, thereby charging them high-interest rates, and which the POS operators, in turn, passed to customers that patronized them. Regarding the foregoing, the CBN should collaborate with the leadership of the Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria (CIBN) to fish out these unscrupulous bankers and sanction them accordingly.
In the view of this writer, the apex bank should forestall every human factor that unarguably hindered the smooth implementation of the naira swap, which led to its postponements, and ensure that enough redesigned naira notes are put into circulation to forestall another round of cash crunch come December 31, 2023. God forbid! After all, it is proverbially said that “A stitch in time saves nine”
