…Shopping malls, Traders, Filling Stations turned down old notes
…Kano Gov shut down shopping mall for refusing to collect old notes
The confusion that is trailing the old naira note is further being compounded by the non directive from the Central Bank of Nigeria to banks. The banks are currently in a dilemma of what to do because they are waiting for further directives from the CBN whether they should continue to accept the notes or not, since they the earlier deadline expired on Friday 10th of February.
A senior official of one of the banks that spoke to Business Standards said there was confusion everywhere as the CBN had not given any counter directive to its earlier order that the old notes should not be in circulation again from Friday, February 10, 2023.
According to him, the whole thing has thrown the banking industry into confusion as they don’t know what to do, stating further that his bank has stopped accepting old note since Friday.
This he said can only be revised if there is counter directive from CBN, and this may be Monday, today.
Some petrol filling stations in Lagos, shopping malls, traders, including fast food restaurants have follow suit as they also rejected the old naira notes at the weekend from customers and insisted on new notes, transfers and Point of Sale payment only.
Meanwhile, Abdullahi Ganduje, governor of Kano, has ordered the closure of Wellcare supermarket over its refusal of old naira notes from customers.
The government, who is against the naira redesign, had directed the continued acceptance of the old naira notes in the state.
On Thursday, the state government filed a suit against the federal government over the naira redesign.
Kano is seeking an order mandating the federal government to reverse the policy to recall the old N200, N500 and N1,000 notes from circulation.
Speaking to journalists after the closure, Baffa Agudi, chairperson of the state’s consumer protection council, said legal action will be taken against the supermarket.
Agudi warned other marketers in Kano to be aware that the state government has not banned the use of old naira notes as legal tender.
He said any shop that is caught refusing the old naira notes will be dealt with decisivel
Responding to the closure, the management of the supermarket, in a letter to the governor, apologised for its action.
It pleaded with the governor to reopen its business premises.
“Due to the federal government policy on the New Naira Notes, we gave wrong instructions to our staff that from the 10th day of February, 2023, only the new approved Naira Notes are to be in circulation,” the letter reads.
“On an expansive investigation with our bankers, they declined to receive old Naira Notes on our behalf, unknown to all parties that the state has a policy that the old notes are to be in circulation.
“On this basis, we sincerely apologise for our actions and deeply regret any inconvenience this may have caused the state.
“We humbly plead that our business should be re-opened for deserving members of the public as we undertake to receive old notes as valid tender to when the state issues and otherwise directive.
“Please do accept our regards and sincere apologies.”
Olusola Bello
