Exclusive by David Kabiyesi
There seems to be no end in sight to queues around Banks in Ikotun axis of Lagos, as officials lamented the non-availability of old N500 and N1000 notes, iwitnesslive.com can exclusively report.
Close checks at Firstbank, Access Bank Stanbic IBTC, and Guaranty Trust Banks on Tuesday revealed that most ATMs are still dispensing old N200 while Ecobank was lauded for dispensing few new notes.
A top Firstbank bank official who pleaded anonymity revealed that the bank is yet to get a supply of old N500 and N1000 notes from Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) which according to him would have reduced the presence of crowds around bank premises to the barest minimum.
” We’re yet to get old N500 and N1000 supply from Central Bank as we speak. There is no cash to give out to customers,” he lamented.
A former banker named Innocent Samiyu revealed that the crowds around bank premises are not likely to go away anytime soon because most of the old not delivered to CBN before January 31 deadline may have been destroyed already.
” Don’t expect the crowds in banks to go away anytime soon because most of the old money may have been destroyed by Central Bank in the first place. Do you know how much it will cost CBN to print new ones,” he asked.
It remains to be seen how banks intend to resolve the cash crunch crisis after CBN finally succumbed to Supreme Court rulings that rendered old N500 and N1000 as legal tender till December 31.
