Confusion as banks ignore Supreme Court ruling, reject old Naira notes
2 min read
Naira notes
Deposit Money Banks (DMBs) across the country have started rejecting the old naira notes despite the Supreme Court ruling extending the deadline till tomorrow, February 15.
Findings across several states of the country indicates that the commercial banks were turning down customers who had walked into their branches to deposit old notes collected over the weekend.
Recall that a seven-member panel of the Supreme Court, last week, issued an order of interim injunction halting the plan by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to end the use of the old banknotes of N200, N500, and N1, 000.
The court adjourned the hearing of the main case until tomorrow, February 15.
The decision follows a lawsuit filed by the governors of Kogi, Kaduna and Zamfara states, who challenged the naira redesign policy of the Muhammadu Buhari-led federal government.
This development left many Nigerians confused. While some were accepting the old notes, others blatantly refused them.
In the same vein, President Buhari who had asked for 7 days to enable him to resolve the crisis caused by the scarcity of new naira notes has remained silent.
Commercial banks in Lagos, Abuja, Kwara, Ondo, and Bayelsa states amongst others, are rejecting the old Naira notes.
“I was shocked that the old notes were rejected at the bank today. I took the money I had with me but the bank rejected the old N500 notes,” a depositor who visited one of the old-generation banks in Ikeja said.
The situation in Bayelsa State was different as almost all the commercial banks in Yenagoa, the state capital, shut down operations over the alleged security threats to the banks.
The commercial banks around the Amarata axis of Yenagoa, the state capital, were totally closed down with only security men on duty, while Automated Teller Machines (ATM) were not dispensing, as no cash was stored inside.
