As Nigerians get closer to Christmas, the Naira is becoming scarce in some areas of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).
Thursday saw the inability to withdraw funds from no less than seven commercial banks in Abuja’s AYA neighborhood.
A reporter from the MISMOB states that he has been unable to withdraw from these ATMs for the past week. He made his visit on Thursday evening.
But our man on the ground saw a sea of Point of Sale (POS) terminals lining up outside those banks, clearly expecting a flurry of business.
Samuel, one of the point-of-sale operators, complained that the ATMs have been acting up recently.
Cash, he said, was only accessible at specific times of day.
These ATMs have significantly reduced their disbursement since the beginning of December.
“There is a scarcity of naira and it might be due to the fact that we are getting close to December, but there is a new scarcity that only CBN can explain,” he stated.
Both the original and redesigned Naira notes will continue to be valid forms of payment in Nigeria, according to an order from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).
The federal government’s requests to extend the use of N200, N500, and N1,000 notes beyond December 31 were also allowed by the Supreme Court in its ruling.
“To avoid doubt, the Supreme Court ordered that the old versions of N200, N500, and N1000 banknotes, alongside the redesigned versions, shall continue to be legal tender,” the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) stated in its response to the ruling.
The Central Bank of Nigeria’s banknotes would continue to be valid currency forever, as stated in Section 20(5) of the CBN Act 2007.
Mismob Media