Banks, Customers in Dilemma Over Old N500 and N1, 000 Notes As CBN Insists It Has No Official Position Yet

Following last week ruling by the Supreme Court which mandates the federal government to reintroduce old N500 and N1, 000 notes, commercial banks in Abuja and their customers are playing the cat and mouse game as they contemplate what to do with the notes. 

Findings by FreshNews indicate that while the banks are willing to and are actually dispensing the old notes, their customers are not accepting them. The latter insist there must be official statements from both the government and Central Bank otherwise it would amount to an unnecessary risk to accept the old notes. 

"My bank offered to pay me today and I was very happy. But the cashier told me it is in old note. I could not accept that because the federal government has not spoken on it. I can't afford to take that risk," a customer who simply identifies himself as Paul, told FreshNews. 

Investigations conducted by the medium also indicate that commercial banks are indeed willing to implement the cash withdrawal limit but mostly in the old notes. They are however, shocked that their customer are rejecting the offer of the old N500 and N1, 000 notes. Interestingly, the banks themselves made it clear to the customers that they (banks) will not accept a return of the notes once collected. An old generation bank located along the Ahmadu Bello Way, Garki 2, Abuja, clearly made this clear while dispensing the old notes to its willing customers, most of whom rejected the offer. 

When contacted on the rejection, an official of the bank refused to comment on the caveat his bank was issuing to its customers not to return the affected bank notes to the bank if they were rejected. 

Freshnews also went to the streets to seek the mood outside the banking halls. Its findings reveal that most traders and commercial transport operators in the Federal Capital Territory, FCT, are not willing to accept both the N500 and N1, 000 notes for fear of becoming the ultimate loser if, in the end, its use is not endorsed by either the federal government or Central Bank. For instance, all the traders who spoke with the medium along the Jikwoyi and Kurudu axes explain that accepting the notes would amount to taking an undue risk particularly as neither the federal government nor Central Bank has made any official statement. 

"No one took the notes from me when I bought my goods this morning. Would it be right for me to ignored such a sign and accept them from my customers," a bread seller asked rhetorically. 

Meanwhile, the apex bank has stated that it did not issue any fresh directive to commercial banks over the ruling by the Supreme Court which ordered the recirculation of the old naira notes alongside the new ones till December 31.

Daily Trust, quoting CBN spokesperson, Isa Abdulmumin, reports that apex bank has not issued an official statement on the subject.