Traders in Niger State are rejecting the new naira note, the Central Bank was told on Tuesday.
Those at the Kure Ultramodern market in Minna pleaded for an extension of the January 31 deadline for the withdrawal of the old banknotes from circulation.
They said those of them in the rural areas were yet to be adequately sensitised about the new notes
According to them, traders in the rural communities have refused to accept the new banknotes, adding that the banks and ATMs across Niger are still dispensing the old notes.
The traders spoke during a sensitisation programme on the currency redesign by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) at the Kure Ultramodern market in Minna.
One of them, Yusuf Mohammed, said those in the rural communities were not aware of the new banknotes and the deadline.
He said there was a need for increased sensitisation if the deadline would not be shifted.
Market Leader, Rebecca James, lamented that the traders have refused to collect the new banknotes.
She said it would cause difficulty for traders if the new banknotes are not accepted.
“I am not satisfied because the banks and ATMs are still giving us the old banknotes.
“When we go to the bush markets, the villagers there are not collecting the new money.
“If you give them the new money alongside the old ones, they will pick the new ones out and tell you to change them.
“The traders in the villages and bush markets do not know about the new banknotes and they need to know.
“It would not be fair if they have money that they will not be able to spend or use.
“And it is from these bush markets that we buy our goods, so there are lots of challenges with these new notes.
“That is why we are asking that the withdrawal should be extended,” she said.
Other traders also spoke in the same vein, saying the January 31 deadline as not in the interest of the people.
Niger Branch Controller of the CBN, Ademola Mohammed Saheed, said there were enough new notes in the CBN treasury.
He added that banks and ATMs have started dispensing the new Naira notes.
“For six weeks now, we have not been giving the banks the old currency.
“The old currency still in circulation is there because of the quantum which is so much.
“We have been giving banks new currency to dispense and we have been calling them to come and collect the new banknotes as we have them in the treasury.
“We are not going back to the old ways of swimming in cash. We are trying to move away from heavy cash transactions.
“We are encouraging everyone to explore other channels of paying and transacting business.
“Cash cannot be eradicated but we are trying to deemphasise the use of cash.”
“For 18 months, the Federal Government then stopped our statutory allocations to our local governments.
“We suffered, our people suffered. No developmental projects going on at all until you came in 2015. That was the salvation moment.
“We are indeed very grateful to Almighty God that the APC, that platform and the people of Nigeria needed a change.
“They needed a leadership that will care. They needed a leadership that will not segregate and that leadership is your leadership.
“During that time, even the ecological fund or stabilisation account was based on party. They will give to only PDP states.
“They will not give other states that were in opposition. You came, and you changed all that.
“Your Excellency, today, we have 41 million registered Nigerians as APC members. All we need to do is mobilise our base.
“Your Excellency, Yobe State is an APC base. In fact at the risk of sounding controversial, I there say that no state in Nigeria is more APC than Yobe State. We are going to deliver every contestable seat to APC in Yobe State.
“Your Excellency, you have been in the seat of leadership in this country. For seven and half years, you have done wonderfully well.
‘They lied. And lied and lied. They want us to believe that they did something. In fact, PDP should be ashamed of itself.
“They destroyed this country. They should have no chance to go around this country, seeking the support of Nigerians.
“You have provided security. As far as we are concerned, the new insecurity that we are seeing, we have acknowledged that it is true and that is the beginning of the solution.
“We are all working hard to ensure that before you leave, before Asiwaju takes the oath of office on the 29th of May, 2023, the security situation would have further improved.”

By Justina Asishana

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