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January 31 deadline: New naira notes policy anti people, NLC tells CBN, backs NASS on extension

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.To embark on  nationwide protest if …

.As Reps threaten to arrest Emefiele

.Over 95 percent  Nigerians behind CBN Gov – Nwanyanwu

.’Politicians who want to buy votes  against redesign policy’

.Zulum orders launch of microfinance banks in 27 Borno’s LGAs

.Onitsha banks, POS yet to issue new notes to customers

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OBIORA IFOH, AKOR SYLVESTER, Abuja and AHMED MARI Maiduguri

 

Nigeria Labour Congress ,(NLC) has expressed worry over the scarcity of the redesigned naira notes and difficulties ordinary Nigerians face accessing the notes, saying the policy is anti people.

 

It said if the decision to redesign the notes were meant to expose criminals who abused the currency, it is acceptable, but what it is against is, what the common people now pass through to get the new notes, even as the deadline is fast approaching.

 

The President of the Congress, Ayuba Wabba, in an interview with Labour Correspondents on his eight years in office as the leader of the congress, added his voice to the calls for the extension of the Central Bank of Nigeria, January 31st deadline to phase out old notes in circulation.

 

Wabba said the directive of the Senate of the National Assembly seeking an extension of the deadline was appropriate, owing to the majority of unbanked Nigerians who live in remote areas where banks don’t exist.

 

The congress president, who will end his tenure as the President of NLC in few weeks time, having served two terms of eight years, noted that most of the policies of the apex bank were anti masses.

 

He expressed worry that ordinarily, commercial banks should have flooded the country with the redesigned naira notes before contemplating a deadline when it would phase out the old ones.

 

His words, “We have tried to respond officially by writing to the CBN governor. we also wrote to the President to say that this new policy of changing our Naira needs to be revisited.

 

“It’s obvious that even in the city centers, they are still dispensing old notes, is this correct?

 

“I remember I went to about 10 banks and none was dispensing actually the new notes.

In fact, most of the banks now if you are lucky, they are dispensing, they will dispense only few notes and you can check that around.

 

“So the new notes are not available and they are not in circulation and the old notes are being rejected.

They are pushing people to the wall and very soon people will react. Importantly, even in city centers, where we have banks, the banks are not dispensing.

 

“If you go to the rural areas and see the chaotic nature of how people have come with their money, you want to change it. It has become a problem.

 

“No policy will be meant actually to hunt people like what is happening now. We have called on the government to look at this issue very carefully before it snowball into a major crisis.

 

“The fact of the matter is that the new notes are not available. There are only few in circulation.

I gave clear examples when I was speaking to BBC to say in fact the rural areas is worse because most of our rural areas don’t have bank.

 

“The state I come from in the entire state, you have only three banks. We have 27 local governments. Only three local governments have banks  and the two are even in one  local government area, Jere and Maduguri and the other one is in Biu.

 

“All the other  local governments, 24 of  them don’t have banks and some of them are not accessible. So nowhere can they do such things. I learned that they went to one or two local governments with cash, CBN and they were exchanging N10,000 only.

 

“I challenge them if they can go to the farthest north of Borno, they cannot go there. And these local governments are still part of Nigeria so we must think through policies, not just to punish people.

 

“If you want to address a fundamental issue, those you want to address, I’m sure those who are targeted are not the people that will feel the consequences of this policy.

 

“It is the poor masses and even the working class that will feel the pinch of this policy. Because how will you withdraw the old currencies when the new one is not even  available.

 

“Because the date they made that  pronouncement,  what they should  have done is to flood everywhere with the new naira notes which is not available.

 

“And many of our people will actually have issues with this policy. We align ourselves fully with the position taken by the Senate. And yesterday we had our NACA meeting. We’re releasing a formal statement on this today.

 

“Among other issues also is the collection of PVCs. It has also become problematic in many, many places. Many people are queuing up for days, they cannot actually collect PVCs.

We need to be innovative  before the closing date to allow people to get their PVC.

 

“And the second one is this policy. The policy certainly will impact negatively on our economy, on the people in the rural areas, even in urban areas, because the notes are not available and when you go to spend the old notes, now people are rejecting it.

 

“So either way, people are already in the middle and they are suffering the consequences of this policy which has not been well thought out.

 

“And we have given many example and  people have spoken about it   in many parts of the world where they have changed currencies.

 

“You keep spending the currency when it ends up bank it will not come out, bank will collect it and they will release it the new ones.

 

“But even our commercial banks are not capable, go to the POS and you will see what is happening.

Most of them are not even dispensing even those that are dispensing, most of the ATM machines if they have four, it  is one that will be working, you see many queues, and people have been subjected to all manner of suffering.

 

“And we have not thought through this policy very well. If you are targeting the rich, the rich are the owners of the bank. The rich are already spending dollars and the rich are spending for their currencies.

 

“So we are targeting rich but we are punishing the poor. As good as the policy,  certainly is not a policy that are making people to believe that the policy is meant to address the fundamental issues.

 

“People see the policy as policy meant to punish the people. We align ourselves fully with the position of Senate because we go to the rural areas, we have workers in rural areas where many of our local governments that don’t have banking facilities and some of those areas are even very hard to reach.

 

“So basically we call for this policy to be reviewed, and to give extension, so that all these old notes can then be mob up by the bank.

 

“We call on CBN, particularly areas where they  don’t have banks, just don’t just go to one or two local government like they did in Borono.

 

“They should go to local governments that are hard to reach and I challenge them if they want to go to farthest north, I would follow them to go there. That’s where you need to go. Not to select places and then tell the media that you are doing the right thing. You’re doing the wrong thing.

 

“And people are going to really suffer for this policy incoherence a policy that is not well thought out”, he said.

 

Similarly, the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) on Thursday expressed concern over the multiple problems, ranging from fuel scarcity, hike in tariff, difficulties in accessing redesigned naira notes, collecting PVCs to others, facing Nigerians and threatened to embark on nationwide protest, if the issues persist.

 

The resolution of the NLC National Administrative Council (NAC) signed by the President, Ayuba Wabba said the country is going through hard situation, calling on government to do something fast to reduce the suffering of the masses or face the wrath of the congress.

 

The resolution reads: “It is with huge concern and palpable alarm that the National Administrative Council (NAC) of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) at its meeting which took place on Wednesday, 25th January 2023 noted the increasing incidences of citizens difficulties and insufferable stress in accessing basic services and utilities.

 

“From long petrol queues, to clandestine increases in the pump price of the Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) also commonly known as petrol, to an illegal hike in electricity tariff, to a debilitating inability to access the newly re-designed local currency, and the deliberate roadblocks mounted against citizens who desire to collect their Permanent Voter Cards (PVC). These are all signs of a nation in acute dire straits.

It is sad, unfortunate and totally unacceptable that the current episode of the scarcity of refined petroleum products particularly petrol which started more than a year ago has continued to linger.

 

“The resurgence of fuel scarcity across the country leading to price hikes ranging from N200 to N450 per litre is of significant concern to us and ordinary Nigerians. It is appalling and shameful.

 

“Businesses are suffering and only few privileged Nigerians can afford this outrageous price hike which government keeps denying. Workers are the worst hit as this  unacceptable price hike is the latest assault on their static wages, from inflation spiral at over 17% (NBS), exchange rate of N800 to the  USD, hikes in utility charges, transportation, rents, health, school fees and sundry issues.

 

“Marketers in collusion with the powers that be fix prices of products at will with little or no regard for consumers or collateral damage to the nation. In spite of the Committee set up by government to clear this mess, nobody appears to be in charge.

 

“In December 2022, Nigerians noticed that there was a clandestine hike in electricity tariff. This is regardless of the fact that public electricity supply has been most erratic for the past one year, in addition to the persisting scourge of estimated billings borne largely by workers and the ordinary citizens of our country.

 

“It is even most distressing that amidst the excruciating poverty and hardship occasioned by the high cost of energy and scarcity of the same, Nigerians especially workers can hardly withdraw their little savings in the bank owing to the chaos caused by the unavailability of the newly designed currency by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN). This is double jeopardy. Nigerians have never had it so bad.

 

“As if the multiple crises we face is not deep enough, there are widespread reports that registered voters are unable to access and collect their Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs) from the different designated locations earmarked by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

 

“Already, some Nigerians believe they were disenfranchised by the bedlam that trailed the last few days of the recent voter registration exercise. Not a few Nigerians would agree that INEC is playing a script if Nigerians who registered to vote are for any reason being obstructed from collecting their PVCs. Consistent with the appeal and advocacy of Nigeria Labour Congress for a peaceful pre and post-election processes, we urge INEC to rise up to the challenge and ensure that no Nigerian is obstructed or frustrated from collecting their PVCs and voting on election day.

 

“On our part as a pan Nigerian, progressive, pro-masses, and pro-poor organisation, we would not fold our hands and watch Nigerians being taken advantage of in any manner. We call on those whose work it is to provide Nigerians access to affordable public services, amenities and utilities to undertake their responsibilities with utmost diligence and patriotism. Nigerian workers and citizens are not slaves.

 

“They deserve tolerable and indeed decent living conditions in order for them to continue to make contributions to the arduous task of nation building. In light of this, we would want this statement to be a message to all those involved in these mischiefs and evil that we are mobilising our members across the country for a major protest.

 

“In the interim, we wish to call on government to effect a major wage review given the considerably weakened value of the Naira against all the currencies of the world making the cost of living unreasonably difficult for workers and ordinary Nigerians. We find it necessary to explain here that there is a world of difference between the national minimum wage review and general wage review.

 

“Furthermore, it is quite important to remind the Federal Government that the last public sector wage review was done in 2011 and has since expired. The need for another review cannot be overstated given the excruciating economic realities in Nigeria today”, .

 

The Congress called on President Muhammadu Buhari to direct the payment of all withheld salaries of university workers.

 

It said the affected university workers are finding it difficult to cope with the prevailing economic challenges in the country.

 

Meanwhile, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila, has declared his readiness to issue a warrant of arrest on the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Godwin Emefiele if he fails to appear before its committee on Thursday.

 

He said instead of the House adjourning plenary till February 28 for the elections as planned, the lawmakers would reconvene on Tuesday to take an action against Emefiele and other bank chiefs who fail to show up.

 

Gbajabiamila, who noted that Emefiele is his friend, pointed out that he would not hesitate to aak the Inspector-General of Police to effect the CBN governor’s arrest and forceful appearance before the House.

 

The House had set up an ad hoc committee to investigate the scarcity of the new naira notes at the Deposit Money Banks, also known as commercial banks, leading to tension over the January 31 deadline set by the CBN for the exchange of the old notes with the newly designed ones.

 

Chairman of the committee, Alhassan Ado-Doguwa, at the plenary on Thursday, told the House about the non-appearance of the CBN governor before it on Wednesday.

 

He noted that the committee had rescheduled the meeting to 1 pm on Thursday.

 

However, Gbajabiamila also informed the House that the CBN had written to the Clerk, informing the House of Emefiele’s inability to appear before the committee on Thursday.

 

But he Speaker said the House would exercise its powers as contained in Section 89 of the 1999 Constitution.

 

He also noted that the CBN Act allows the admittance of an old naira note by banks, even after it had ceased to be legal tender.

 

The House had on Tuesday called on the President Muhammadu Buhari to address the brewing crisis occasioned by the January 31 deadline for the use of old naira notes.

 

Besides asking the CBN to extend the window for swapping the old notes with the newly redesigned one by six months, the House had invited the banks to a meeting on Wednesday over the scarcity of new naira notes.

 

Similarly, the Managing Directors/Chief Executive Officers of the banks, under the auspices of the Bankers’ Committee, were scheduled to meet with an ad hoc committee of the House to be chaired by the Majority Leader, Alhassan Ado-Doguwa.

The House further resolved that the banks should be invited to explain the alleged supply shortage from the CBN, after which the lawmakers would invite the leadership of the apex bank for questioning.

 

The House “call on President Muhammadu Buhari to intervene in the insistence of the CBN on the tight deadline for the implementation of the cashless policy and currency swap.”

 

The lawmakers also urged the CBN to extend the implementation of the cashless policy “to at least six months.

But the Presidential candidate of the Zenith Labour Party, ZLP, Chief Dan Nwanyanwu has asked the Governor of Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN,  Godwin Emefiele to resist the pressure from some quarters to extend the date for the circulation of old naira notes.

 

Chief Nwanyanwu also said that from all indications, only politicians who want to buy votes in the coming election are against the CBN policy.

 

In a statement in Abuja he said, “I want to say that the decision taken by the Central Bank of Nigeria and with the approval by President Buhari is the best for this nation. It is a patriotic decision taken by CBN as it relates to the new bank notes and the time stipulated for the removal of the old notes.

 

“And I have my reason for speaking this way. We have been in this country and people given the responsibility to serve, go there to help themselves. They steal the money and put it into personal use.They don’t use it to even develop their environment.

 

“They stack the money at home, in septic tanks, in the farm, and some of these funds have been there for more than 10, 15 years, idling away. So why do you steal what you do not need?

 

“So the CBN had to put on their thinking cap and Emefiele said, look we have been having problems with vote buying. Those categories of naira notes, if not returned before the date stipulated by CBN would become toilet paper. That is, will be of no use. Now people are afraid to take these notes to the banks for fear of being identified.

“Billions and millions of naira notes are still in the homes of some people. It is either they take the courage to bring it to the banks or by the end of next week, they become toilet paper.

 

“And I want to use this opportunity to call on Godwin Emefiele, governor of central bank, not to succumb or listen to anybody from anywhere suggesting that there should be an extension for the return of the old notes back to the bank. His name will be written in gold if he gets this thing done.

 

“And on the part of the President, his mantra failed Nigerians and he has come up to tell Nigerians that he will ensure free and fair election. This is one way to ensure free and fair elections by making our politicians not to have access to money to buy votes. So whether they are National Assembly members or anybody whatsoever, who is opposed to this is very unpatriotic”.

 

Speaking on the scarcity of the new naira notes in the banks, Chief Nwanyanwu said, “I am not working in CBN but I know that before they started they must have got their logistics right. They will not carry trillions and throw into the market, it has to be slowly. Must you carry cash in all your transactions? Go and do transfer?

 

“That is why in my administration as president and commander in chief, we will abolish paper note. 100, 200, 500, 1000 naira notes, I will turn them to coins, so that because of the weight, people will not like to carry it. It will strengthen the naira and it will bring down corruption. This is a special way to tackle special circumstances.

 

“Let us not cry, we have been enduring for seven and half years. This money will get back into circulation, immediately after election, and I suspect CBN will release a little, so that Nigeria will have some money in their hands. Those crying are crying because they want money to go and buy votes.

 

“Emefiele, don’t succumb, you have the support of most Nigerians, over 95 percent of Nigerians are behind you in this regard.”

 

Meanwhile, Governor  Babagana Zulum, of Borno State has ordered the State owned Microfinance Bank, State, Ministry of Finance and that of Higher Education, Science, Technology and Innovation to, establish Microfinance Bank, and ICT centres across the 27 Local Government Areas of the state in accordance with regulatory procedures,.

 

He gave the directive on Wednesday  during an extraordinary stakeholders meeting at the Government House, Maiduguri, adding

“I have convened this meeting to discuss how our people in the villages can get easy windows of depositing their money to the bank accounts as stipulated in the CBN’s new policy.

“The Ministry of Finance is hereby directed to moblize the people and ensure nobody lost his money, you should facilitate ways through which people can voluntarily deposit their money into the banks in the remaining days” .

 

The emergency meeting followed the CBN’s policy on stoppage of old naira notes amid the absence of banking services across 25 out of Borno’s 27 Local Government Areas due to over 12 years of killings and destructions by Boko Haram insurgents.

 

Amongst those in attendance were the Shehu of Borno, Abubakar Umar Garbai Elkanemi, represented by the Waziri of Borno, Mustapha Waziri Muktar, members of the Borno State House of Assembly, Commissioners, Advisers, Local Government Chairmen and other critical stakeholders..

 

“Despite a great improvement of the security in Borno, there are still challenges for banks to start operations. Banking is a very delicate industry and I am sure none of them is willing to take the risk of establishing branches in our LGAs for now.

 

“Therefore, to support our people, Borno State Government has to take the risk. I have directed the ministry of finance to ensure the recapitalization of Borno Renaissance Microfinance Bank to qualify it to have the capacity to open branches in all the 27 LGAs. This I believe will greatly alleviate the suffering of our people”, Zulum said.

 

He directed that where possible, branches of the microfinance bank should be established this week in Monguno and Gwoza Local Government Areas.

 

He  lamented thus: “At the moment we only have two LGAs with banking services and these are Maiduguri and Biu. The distance from most of the local governments to either Maiduguri or Biu is too long”

 

He also directed the Ministry of Finance to immediately come up with a template to organize and ensure people in rural communities deposit their old naira notes before the 31st of January deadline.

 

He  also directed the Ministry of Higher Education, Science, Technology and Innovation to support mobile telecommunication providers towards improving their network coverage for internet connectivity across all 27 local government areas.

.Onitsha banks, POS yet to issue new notes to customers

 

With five days to the expiration of old naira notes as legal tender, the new naira notes are yet to be issued by most banks in Onitsha, the commercial nerve centre of Southeast zone, even as customers storm the banks in large number to deposit old notes and collect new ones.

 

At the New market road that stretches from Onitsha Main market to Ogbommanu junction, that houses most banks in the State, none of them has reportedly paid customers with the new naira notes five days to expiration of old naira notes.

 

Most of the Pay On Sales, POS, agents in Onitsha and environs neither receive old naira notes nor pay new ones to their customers, thereby frustrating smooth running of business activities in the area

 

A banker in one of the new generation banks along New Market road who pleaded anonymity told our correspondent that they have not gotten enough to pay to the intimidating crowd that surge the bank .

 

“It is not our fault, we have not gotten enough for payment to our customers. So the little we get we pay through ATM, we don’t pay on the counter as directed by CBN. Our agents don’t even have new notes to pay to their customers but with time all will be well.

 

“By the time we get to 31 January, 2023, that is the expiration date for the old naira notes, the new naira notes may likely have circulated. So let the customers be patient with us because we are not hoarding the new naira as they claimed.

 

In her reaction a POS agent who simply identified herself as Nkiruka, said that she has not even seen the new naira notes let alone paying them to her customers.

 

“I have not even seen it, let alone paying to my customers. What I have here are old naira notes and I no longer receive the old naira notes because to exchange it in the  banks for new ones is now problem because the banks said they have not gotten enough of the new notes.

 

” I told most of my customers that the problem is not from me. We are waiting for the banks to improve on the payment of the new notes.So I don’t receive old naira notes any longer” she affirmed.

 

In his reaction, a transporter, Chief John Mmaka, hinted that politicians have bought all the new notes from banks for their election, stating that the bankers should be held responsible for scarce new notes.

 

” The new naira notes are in the hands of politicians now. They bought the new notes from banks at a very exorbitant prices. The only way out of the quagmire is to sanction the banks found to have sold out these new notes to the politicians,” he stated.

 

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