By NewsBits
Following the persistence of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) that there is no going back on the January 31 deadline for the phasing out of the old N1,000, N500 and N200 notes, NewsBits gathered that some churches, schools, and retailers have also set time limits for the collection of the old currencies.
This decision was compounded by a recent interview President Muhammadu Buhari granted where he also restated that the government will not change the deadline. Across major Nigerian cities, there are noticeable lingering shortage of old naira notes, and most Deposit Money Banks (DMBs) have refused to load their Automated Teller Machines.
It is also a challenge to get the new notes from across the counter as banks claim that they have very limited supply from the CBN despite the reported directive by the CBN that banks should load only their ATMs with the news notes. The CBN is also complicating the matter following their earlier directive to banks not to dispense the new notes over the counter.
As a result of this confusion, which is made worse by long queues in banks across the country, some churches, schools, and retailers have also stopped accepting the old notes. One of the officials of one retailer who would not like to be mentioned told NewsBits that it was better to avoid collecting the old notes because of the difficulty of depositing them in banks and getting the new notes.
