The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) on Sunday extended the deadline for collecting old naira notes by 10 days amids complaints by Nigerians over scarcity of the new notes.
While some citizens praised the CBN for the extension, others warned that it may lead to a situation in which government policies are not taken seriously in the future.
They believe that the extension is a smart choice since it allows some Nigerians who have not deposited their old naira notes to do so.
Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Mr. Godwin Emefiele, while explaining the extension, said that the central bank requested and received President Muhammadu Buhari’s agreement to extend the deadline to February 10.
Aside from individuals hoarding illicit/stolen cash in their houses for speculative purposes, the governor stated that the goal of the extension was to allow Nigerians who have lawfully earned and trapped naira to deposit their legitimately trapped monies with the CBN for exchange.
The CBN had earlier given Jan. 31, as the deadline for people to deposit the old notes in their possession in banks.
Mr. Ukaegbu Ndukwe, a software programmer, said the extension by 10 days would give the masses a few days of grace to return old notes in their possession to the bank.
“The date is fair, so long it doesn’t get extended to the election date as it might affect the free and fair electoral process in terms of vote buying.
“Most of the people clamouring for this extension may have in their possession hoarded old naira notes and might intentionally want to use this notes for vote buying,” he said.
Mr Michael Akpan, a businessman, said he did not expect the apex bank to give in to pressures by politicians to extend the Jan. 31 deadline.
“I will say it’s okay since it’s not after the elections, but government should learn to stand by its words,” he said.
The CEO/Founder, Center for the Promotion of the Private Enterprise (CPPE), Dr Muda Yusuf, said, “the Centre believed that 10 days is grossly inadequate to make up for the glaring shortcomings of the apex bank in this process.”
“It was wrong to still be issuing payments with the old notes through the ATMs even in the few past weeks.
“Why should people pay in their old notes to the banks only to be reissued the same old notes via the ATMs.
“However, the extension will allow the CBN to correct its mistakes and thus instruct the deposit money banks to issue only the new notes, henceforth.
“On no occasion should there be any further extensions beyond Feb. 10, to allay the fears of many that any extensions could encourage vote buying during the forthcoming general elections in February and March.”
Meanwhile, checks by Financialtrust.com on Monday in Abuja the Federal Capital Territory show that there’s still long queues at bank ATMs and at POS shops as Nigerians scramble to get cash.
Most of the bank ATMs were not dispensing while POS operators are making brisk business as they charge N500 for every N5000 and N1000 for every N10,000 for new notes while for old notes they charge N200 for every N10000.