POS operators have continued to charge exorbitant fees as commission on transactions made through them as the naira notes scarcity is yet to abate despite a Supreme Court ruling ordering the lifting of the February 10 deadline date for the expiration of the legality of the old naira notes set by the Central Bank of Nigeria.
The polity has been heated up by the redesigning policy of the CBN which culminated in three state governors approaching the Supreme Court to stop the apex bank and the Federal Government from implementing the February 10 deadline for old naira notes.
Nigerians heaved a sigh of relief when the apex court ruled that old notes should be allowed to be used alongside the new ones but the citizens have yet to feel the impact of the landmark judgement as scarcity of naira both old and new ones has lingered.
Our correspondent who went around Lagos on Sunday observed that most of the commercial banks did not fill their ATMs with cash as residents have been left at the mercy of POS operators who source their cash from different means other than the banks.
Segun Oguniyi, an electrical engineer, told our correspondent at the ATM point of a commercial bank in Agege, that, “I got an information that the bank would load their ATM with cash and I have been here for more than 45 minutes, the money is yet to be loaded. I will leave if I want for another 30 mi utes without any trace of money. I don’t have a choice, I would have to patronise a POS operator in my area who charges N1000 commission on N5000.”
Our correspondent observed that between Iyana Ipaja and Meiran Bus Stop in the Lagos suburb, only two ATM machines were dispensing cash as of 12 noon.
Mrs Akilonye Elizbeth, a school teacher told our correspondent, “I paid N13000 for N7000 that I collected from a POS operator in my street when I was going to church this morning. I need to hold some cash that I would give to my children when they are going to school tomorrow (Monday). I was thinking by now, the CBN should have flooded everywhere with old notes alongside the new ones but they just don’t have the feelings for the masses.”
