Confusion deepens as Lagos judiciary rejects old naira

Account officials at the Lagos state Judiciary on Monday stopped collecting old naira notes as payment for the filing of court processes.

TVC News gathers that this decision of the state is due to a directive from the official bank of the judiciary – Polaris bank PLC – to reject old notes deposited by the Court at the Bank on Monday, on the grounds that the old notes were no more legal tender.

But Some lawyers told tvc news that this development has deepened the crisis on ground as Nigerians continue to grapple with the difficulty in accessing the new naira notes as well as major network glitches in opting for e-banking.

It would be recalled that the Supreme Court’s interim order on February 8, 2023 restrained the CBN from going ahead with the enforcement of its 10 February deadline for the use of the old naira note.

The Supreme Court had last Wednesday ordered the CBN not to put an end to the use of old naira notes on 10 February as earlier announced.

A seven-member panel of the court, led by justice John Okoro, gave the order of interim injunction amid acute scarcity of the newly redesigned N200, N500, and N1,000 currency notes.

The court gave the order temporarily based on an application filed by three northern states being controlled by the All Progressive s Congress (APC), Kogi, Kaduna and Zamfara States.

Last December, the CBN introduced the new notes amid efforts to fight corruption, terrorism, counterfeiting and related crimes.

NAIRA NOTES SCARCITY MAY AFFECT ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

Naira notes Scarcity affects everyone from Manufacturers to Students and the ordinary citizen and is a major issue which has made things difficult for Manufacturers who need to sell their products.

Director General of the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria, Segun Ajayi Kadri, disclosed this while speaking on Business Nigeria with Tolulope Ogunjobi, on TVC News on Monday afternoon.

Mr Kadri while speaking on the impact that the scarcity of the Naira notes has on the Manufacturers and general Business environment in the Country said whatever happens at the retail end affects them since to have been seen to have engaged in Business, sales would have to have been made and this has shrank considerably in the last few days.

He said Manufacturers will not have Customers to buy their products especially in the Sub National and Rural Communities which are essentially transactions that are done by cash.

He disclosed that Manufacturers who also have to get Raw materials from the Rural Communities also need Cash to get their transactions done at that level.

He added that this is despite the advancements made in Electronic Transactions made in recent times.

Another impact the Scarcity of Cash has on the Economy according to him is that impedes easy and free movement of Goods and Services which is essentially what trade is all about.

He added that the scarcity has led to disturbances which has made most people living only to just survive meaning people are spending the little cash they have on cash.

According to Mr Kadri, he said the members of the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria have started complaining about their unsold goods which some have also had to hire warehouses to stock them.

He disclosed that if the situation persists, some of the goods will reach their shelve life which will create a burden on Manufacturers to dispose them and may impact negatively on the Sector.

He said the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria had raised concerns on how the Currency Swap was being managed after one month of bringing it on and ATM Machines were still dispensing old notes.

Going Further he said the failure to immediately roll out the new Naira Notes and saturate the Urban areas with the new notes then it would have been easier to concentrate on the rural and unbanked areas which never happened.

On what can be done to address the issue of New Naira Notes Scarcity and that of Forex, Mr Kadri said the issue has been spoke about so much that members of the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria and himself have been sounding like broken records.

He disclosed that for a product or commodity that is in short supply the best thing to do is to prioritise the allocation or use.

He said MAN the umbrella body of Manufacturers has asked for allocation of FOREX at the official rate which has always been refused.

He described the call as one in the interest of the Economy and not one in self interest.

He added that it is unfortunate that when Manufacturers earn in Dollars and repatriate it they are not able to earn it but when it comes to getting raw materials especially for use in the manufacturing process that are not available in Nigeria they will go to the black market to get FOREX.

He posited that this will help in ensuring that exposure of Manufacturers is limited.

According to him, the Money Deposit Banks have failed to help manufacturers get access to FOREX while also trapping profits of Manufacturing companies in Nigeria having failed to get out their Money out of the Country.

He commended the advancement made across Electronic platforms especially with Manufacturers having the ability to move Money outside the Country without the use of Cash but said more needs to be done especially in expanding the platforms to do this and continue to innovate on what is being done well.

He said the charges on banking services are ridiculously high and should come down.

He also urged the Central Bank of Nigeria not to let the current supply issues affect the little Economic gains made by the Country.

Mr Kadri however expressed surprise that the new notes are nowhere to be found despite the good intentions and benefits inherent in the redesign and currency swap policy.

He advised the CBN to accelerate the release of the new notes.