Senate asks Central Bank to extend New Notes Deadline

The Nigerian Senate wants the Central Bank of Nigeria to extend the deadline for the implementation of the New Naira note Policy by six months.

The upper legislative Chamber’s stand on the matter is the resolution reached following a point of order moved by Kwara State lawmaker, Senator Sadiq Umar .

The Senate insists the Deadline for the implementation of the CBN Policy is too short and would only inflict untold hardship on Nigerians following the public outcry .

The Senate says it is still within its purview to ensure that the rights and interest of the people are protected at all cost, and it will stand against any deciision that suppresses the voice of the people in a democracy.

The Senate has now directed the CBN to extend the deadline of its new Policy to the 31st of July 2023.

The Senate also urged Banks to permit unbanked Nigerians to exchange the Old Naira Notes for new ones .

CENTRAL BANK OF NIGERIA MONITORS NEW NOTES CIRCULATION IN BENUE

The Central bank of Nigeria, CBN, have expressed satisfaction with the response by commercial banks in Benue State in issuing out the new notes to the public.

The Director, Financial Markets Department of the CBN, Angela Shere-Ejembi, led the Central Bank monitoring team to banking halls and ATM spots to ascertain if the new two hundred, five hundred and one thousand naira notes were being issued to customers.

The central bank officially introduce the newly redesigned naira notes on Thursday, 15, December 2022 across the country.

The notes include, the new two hundred, five hundred and one thousand naira notes.

But till present many persons complain that they have not gotten hold of the new notes.

This is a worry to the CBN, and their reason for this visit to commercial banks in Benue.

One of the sub-team Leaders, and Deputy Director with the CBN, states that the 31st January deadline for circulation of the old naira notes remains sancrosanct.

Areas visited included Commercial banking halls and ATM spots

The Director, Financial Markets Department of the CBN, is satisfied with the response by commercial banks in issuing out the new notes and urged the Public to endeavour to dispose of the old currencies in their possession.

She adds that all the banks visited lived up to expectation as people who came for withdrawal were issued the new notes.

The team is expected to extend the sensitisation to traditional and religious institutions to ensure that no one is caught in the web of the the deadline for the circulation of the old notes.

FLIGHTS RESUME AFTER WORKERS STRIKE

Air passengers both local and international can now heave a sigh of relief as normalcy is gradually returning to airports across the country as seamless passenger facilitation has commenced.

This is coming on the heels of the suspension of strike by aviation unions over the review of salaries of its members in the Nigeria Aviation Handling Company, NAHCO.

The strike was called off after three hours meeting between the unions, the National Union of Air Transport Employees, NUATE, the Air Transport Services Senior Staff Association of Nigeria, ATSSSAN, and the management of the company.

Flight operations were grounded on Monday morning following the industrial action embarked on by the staff of NAHCO over failure to review their current salaries since June 2022.

Flight disruption due to the strike left scores of passengers both local and foreign stranded at the Lagos airports which spilled over to airports across the country.

Speaking on the strike, Secretaries General of the Unions in NAHCO, the National Union of Air Transport Employees, NUATE and Air Transport Services Senior Staff Association of Nigeria, ATSSSAN, Comrades Ocheme Aba and Frances Akinjole noted that its members embarked on the strike because the NAHCO management handled their seven-day ultimatum with kid gloves.

According to them, the management also continued to play on their intelligence through rescheduling of purposeless meetings.

In an agreement reached at the end of the meeting, all staff have been directed to resume work immediately, negotiation of all workers’ welfare to start Wednesday this week and NAHCO management decided to withdraw the suit and vacate the earlier court order obtained.

Reacting to the strike, the Chairman, House of Representatives Committee on Aviation, Mr. Nnaji Nnolim earlier in a statement had appealed to the unions and management of the company to dialogue and avert further disruption to aviation activities.

Mr. Nnaji urged the union to douse its agitation and show concern for the pains the action would bring on innocent Nigerian travellers both locally and internationally.

Responding to the development, the Group Executive Director, NAHCO, Dr. Olusola Obabori said, the Company engaged the Unions and other stakeholders because they understand the power of negotiation.