- Confusion over collection of old N500, N1,000 notes as anxious depositors besiege CBN branches
- Wike, Ozekhome, Keyamo: Buhari can’t overrule Supreme Court
- Tinubu never asked APC governors to disregard Buhari – APC PCC
- CBN trying to cripple Kano economy, incite civil unrest, govt insists
- Ondo residents swap old notes for foodstuff; soldiers bar depositors in Benin-City
By Precious Igbonwelundu; Bisi Olaniyi, Benin; Tony Akowe, Abuja/Mike Odiegwu; Rose Nwise, Port Harcourt; Osagie Otabor,Akure; Chris Njoku,Owerri; Collins Nweze; Nduke Chiejina,Abuja/Alao Abiodun; Rasaq Ibrahim, Ado Ekiti; Sunny Nwankwo, Umuahia; Adebisi Onanuga; Simeon Utebor, Yenagoa; Jide Orintunsin
Fresh protests over the new naira notes scarcity erupted in Lagos, Ogun, Rivers and Ondo states yesterday, leaving two persons dead at Mowe-Ibafo in Obafemi-Owode Local Government Area of Ogun State.
Several other protesters were injured as law enforcements officials battled to restore order.
A different sort of chaos ensued at the Lagos annex of the Central Bank of Nigeria on Kakawa Street where a sea of heads almost swamped the complex in a desperate bid by people to gain entry into the building to deposit their old N500 and N1,000 notes.
More confusion ensued later in the day after the apex bank disowned media reports that it had directed those with the old notes of not more than N500,000 to take them to the commercial banks to deposit.
The CBN said at no time did it say so.
However, some commercial banks e-mailed their customers that they would open for business today to “receive old notes up to a maximum of N500,000 (five hundred thousand naira) after registration on the CBN portal.”
The new notes remained scarce as were the old ones, including the old N200 notes which President Muhammadu Buhari said should circulate alongside the new one until April10.
The banks keep rationing available notes among lucky customers who must come early to stand any chance of returning home with money.
The All Progressives Congress (APC) Presidential candidate, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, said he felt the pains of petty traders, artisans, small-scale business promoters and indeed the masses brought about by the naira swap. He, however, urged them not to despair
The House of Representatives said the introduction of the new naira notes at this time was “very unpopular and is capable of creating a crisis in the country that could jeopardise the upcoming general election.”
The casualties of the Mowe-Ibafo protests, one of whom was a commercial bus driver, were hit by bullets in a clash between security men and hoodlums who had blocked the Lagos/Ibadan Expressway attacking road users and vandalising vehicles and other valuables.
Residents of Ore in Ondo State and Port Harcourt also took to the streets to express their anger.
Like their Mowe-Ibafo counterparts, the Ondo protesters blocked the Ore-Benin Expressway, hindering traffic on the ever busy road.
The Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) Unit Commander in Ore, Mr Sikiru Alonge, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) that it was difficult to control traffic in the axis as a result of the situation.
Similar protests were recorded at Ojota/Mile 12 area, Agege, Idimu, Egbeda, Iyana-Ipaja, Ikorodu and Epe all in Lagos State as well as Ifo in Ogun State, with the protesters smashing vehicles and erecting barricades across highways.
Transporters quickly withdrew their vehicles from the roads, leaving thousands of commuters stranded.
The Lagos unrest appeared to have started at the popular Mile 12 market after traders began to reject the old N500 and N1000 notes from buyers.
Frustration and anger soon befell the buyers who were said to have gone to the market with huge amounts of the old notes.
Hoodlums who got wind of the situation wasted no time in cashing in on the tension so generated.
They reached for disused tyres and other objects with which they set up barricades on the road and started attacking motorists. Passers-by took to their heels in the ensuing confusion.
The disturbances soon spread to other parts.
But the security agencies later deployed their personnel to the roads to restore order.
Lagos State Police Commissioner Idowu Owohunwa and his men visited Mile 12 and other areas for an on-the-spot assessment of the situation.
He vowed that ‘troublemakers will surely be dealt with while law abiding citizens will be protected.”
Some hoodlums attacked commercial banks in Epe on the heels of a police warning that “it is criminal and tantamount to armed robbery.”
“If you are caught in the act, you will be treated as an armed robber,” Force spokesman Olumuyiwa Adejobi said.
“We complain that banks don’t attend to us, yet we go to their facilities and set them ablaze, destroy ATMs. How do you want them to serve you better if you have destroyed their facilities?” he said in a recorded video posted on the NPF’s Facebook page yesterday.
“I think we need to educate ourselves on what the law says about this. You don’t go to any bank, ATM or financial institution to attack.
“It is criminal and tantamount to armed robbery. If you are caught in the act, you will be treated as an armed robber.”
“Even the ATM, as small as that machine is, has certain protections from the security agencies, particularly the police. It is an infrastructure that you don’t attack. If you do that, it is presumed that you are actually going there to rob.”
Tinubu: I feel your pains
The Presidential Candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, said his concern for the unintended hardship caused by the ongoing naira swap policy stemmed from his background as a son of a market woman.
He said he felt the pains of petty traders, artisans, small-scale business promoters and indeed the masses in general, brought about by the disruptive implementation of the naira redesigning policy.
Tinubu, who had at different times expressed reservations about the implementation of the policy, said his cries were informed by his experience as someone who grew up in a market environment.
Speaking on Friday evening at a town hall meeting with market leaders from around the country in Abuja, the APC presidential hopeful said he was fed and trained by his late mother with money from trading, adding that he could identify with the pains and gains of traders.
Tinubu said he knew that limiting the circulation of cash would have a devastating impact on the informal economy because of his knowledge of trading in Nigerian markets.
He expressed sympathy with petty traders and those dealing in perishable goods who, he said, are worst affected by the policy.
Tinubu cited the example of a carrot seller he observed while on a recent campaign trip to Gombe, who was standing under the sun and tending to his wares with no one to patronise him “because there was no currency”.
The APC presidential candidate urged the traders to remain resolute and not allow difficulties arising from the naira swap exercise to overwhelm them.
He said if elected into office, his government would provide low-interest loans for traders and address their concerns in other areas of their businesses.
Assuring them that he knows where it pinches, he said: “This man is from the market and is from the city.”
Representatives of market leaders who addressed the participants spoke glowingly of the APC candidate who they described as one of them.
They promised to mobilise for the victory of Tinubu who, they said, is the best candidate on the ballot.
Tinubu was joined at the event by Governors Muhammad Badaru Abubakar (Jigawa) and Abubakar Sani Bello (Niger), Secretary of the APC Presidential Campaign Council, Hon. James Faleke, among other chieftains of the party.
Commuters stranded as Ota boils
Hundreds of commuters were stranded at the old toll gate end of the Lagos-Abeokuta Expressway in Ota, Ogun State yesterday after transporters withdrew their vehicles in the face of the destruction embarked upon by hoodlums.
Only a few commercial drivers took the risk to operate, taking inner roads to reach their destinations. But passengers were made to pay almost double the normal fare.
Hundreds of market women in the town were joined by youths to protest their inability to deposit or spend the huge old notes in their possession.
Others complained bitterly about the inability of the banks to meet their demands for cash.
It took the deployment of reinforcement teams comprising anti-riot policemen and soldiers who fired teargas and warning shots to restore calm in all affected areas.
Three banks destroyed, property looted in Rivers’ riot
Hoodlums yesterday hijacked the Port Harcourt and Obio-Akpor (both in Rivers State) protests against Naira scarcity, destroying three banks and looting property.
Attacked were the First Bank in Churchill and Keystone Bank along Aggrey Road in the old Port Harcourt Township.
Customers were said to have stormed the First Bank and Keystone Bank in the town axis only for hoodlums to hijack the procession.
They destroyed ATMs belonging to the First Bank, pulled down the gate of the bank and forced their way into the banking hall.
Officials of the bank took to their heels.
Two ATMs belonging to Keystone Bank on Aggrey Road were destroyed.
Markets, shops and business premises were immediately shut for fear that the hoodlums could also strike there.
Residents deserted the streets and ran home for safety.
Security personnel were later deployed to arrest the situation.
The policemen shot into the air and chased the hoodlums into the waterfronts.
Wike to Buhari: you are inviting anarchy
Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike, described President Muhammadu Buhari’s disposition to the Supreme Court’s verdict on the Naira-swap policy as an invitation to anarchy.
Wike said Buhari had set a dangerous precedent by flouting the Supreme Court order of interim injunction halting the ban on old naira notes.
Speaking at a rally in Ngo town, headquarters of Andoni Local Government Area, Wike said the President should have respected the Supreme Court, “and when you do not respect the Supreme Court then it is anarchy you are talking about. “
He said:”So, we from Rivers State we condemn the position of Mr. President for not respecting the decision of the Supreme Court.
“We want a democracy and there cannot be democracy without the rule of law. Therefore, any candidate who is in support of the policy when the people are suffering, we will not support that candidate.
“Any policy you have to implement, you have to weigh it because you are put there for the people. If your policy is going to suffer the people, then think twice.”
Currency swap can affect 2023 polls, House Committee warns
The House of Representatives fears the implementation of the naira swap may affect the coming elections and has told President Buhari so.
Chairman of the House Ad hoc Committee on the redesigned currency, Alhassan Ado Doguwa, said in a statement in Abuja yesterday that the committee informed the President during a meeting on Thursday that the policy has exposed Nigerians to serious hardship.
“The steps taken so far by Mr. President leave much to be desired,” Doguwa said.
“The policy is at this time very unpopular and is capable of creating a crisis in the country that could jeopardise the upcoming general elections.
“Mr. President may of course have good intentions in using the policy to tackle insecurity, reduce corruption and engender the global best practice in fiscal policy management, but unfortunately, due to wrong timing and the work of some criminal elements in both the CBN and the commercial banks, Nigerians are left suffering.”
He asked Nigerians to be calm and maintain law and order.
“We also urge Nigerians to continue to be calm and pursue their lawful businesses within the ambit of the law as we will continue to explore available opportunities to make sure that government does only what is right and in the overall interest of our people,” he said.
Buhari should have complied with Supreme Court order —Keyamo
Spokesperson for the All Progressives Congress Presidential Campaign Council (APC-PCC), Festus Keyamo (SAN), believes the President should have complied with the Supreme Court injunction restraining him from banning the use of the old N500 and N1000 notes.
Keyamo, who is also the Minister of State for Labour, said on Channels TV’s Politics Today that Buhari should have stood on the side of the law at a time like this.
He said: “I think the President thought he is playing safe because he acknowledged in his speech that the matter is in court. Before the matter is decided so he is trying to bring a middle ground. The country is burning; there is riot everywhere.
“If I were to advise the President, I would advise him to comply strictly to the tenets of the order of the Supreme Court. All the notes should circulate for now. The old notes should circulate side by side with the new notes because that is the order of the Supreme Court.
“And by virtue of our constitution, all authorities in Nigeria must obey the orders of the Supreme Court; anything to the contrary is a dissent to anarchy. The day we begin to disobey the orders of the Supreme Court, that is an invitation to intervention in our democracy, because the judiciary and the Supreme Court are the last bastion to defend our democracy.”
Buhari can’t overrule Supreme Court, says Ozekhome
Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) Mike Ozekhome said in a statement yesterday that President Buhari, by his Thursday broadcast in which he said the old N500 and N1000 notes had ceased to be legal tender, “literally overruled the Supreme Court of the land in a way and manner only a military tyrant could ever contemplate.”
The President’s order, he added, was “a frontal call to chaos, anarchy and national upheaval. It was a direct assault on the authority of the Supreme Court, the highest court of the land; and also the head of the entire Judiciary, the 3rd arm of government under the doctrine of separation of powers.
“The speech was not only highly unpresidential but was vividly insensate and insensitive to the suffering of Nigerian citizens, who, due to no fault of theirs, can neither now use the old currency nor access the new one. Banks claim not to have the new currency in their vaults.
“What manner of government would consciously and deliberately throw its country into a spin, and its citizens under the bus, in a policy that could have been handled with better planning and more decency, efficiency and human face? This is the first time in my life I watch Nigerians buy money with money – buying Naira with Naira – at exorbitant exchange rates.”
But another SAN, Chief Louis Alozie, said the apex bank may have usurped the power of the executive arm of government by restraining government from enforcing the deadline for swapping of the old naira notes of N1,000, N500 and N200.
His words: “By law, it is the CBN that determines what is legal tender at any point in time. The Supreme Court usurped that statutory functions. Yet its orders were directed at CBN and privately owned commercial banks who were not parties to that suit.
“This apparently accounts for the disobedience as those banks ought not be bound by the orders of the Supreme Court.”
Chief Alozie argued that the principles of separation of powers were flouted by the Supreme Court.
“Because the bedrock of democracy is the rule of law, the orders of the supreme Court ought to be obeyed. This applies even when it is perceives that they are wrong in their ruling”, he said.
No need for violence in Lagos, says Sanwo-Olu
Lagos State Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu described the violence in parts of the state yesterday as needless since the issue at stake is awaiting the decision of the Supreme Court.
Information and Strategy Commissioner Gbenga Omotoso said in a statement that the state has “since joined the legal dispute – all in the interest of our people – in the belief that the highest court in the land has the capacity to adjudicate on the matter. The fuel situation is easing following some steps taken by the government.”
Government however praised Lagosians for “showing understanding, despite the pains that the Federal Government’s measures have brought.”
It urged them to “continue to be law-abiding by shunning any form of incitement by mischief makers” saying the governor was “working with his colleagues to ensure that this hardship does not go on.”
‘CBN trying to cripple Kano’s economy, cause civil unrest’
The Kano State Government yesterday said the CBN’s implementation of the naira swap seemed to have been targeted at crippling the economy of the state.
Information and Internal Affairs Commissioner, Muhammad Garba, said in Kano that the apex bank had refused to release new naira notes to commercial banks operating in the state in the last four days.
He accused the CBN of causing deliberate hardship by depriving the people access to their funds, ostensibly to precipitate civil unrest that could lead to the postponement of the coming elections.
“Since Monday, commercial banks in the state have got zero allocation from the CBN,” Garba said.
“The prejudiced approach by the CBN governor, Gowin Emefiele, in the implementation of the cashless policy, no matter the intentions, seem to be targeting Kano and its economy.
“In spite of the daily volume of trade in Kano, the North’s commercial nerve centre, the CBN is starving commercial banks in the state of the money supposed to be allocated to them,” the commissioner said.
According to Garba, the CBN, as an organ of the federal government, has from all indications been reduced to a tool to settle political scores by choosing a wrong time to force a policy on the people that could have been implemented at the appropriate time in the past.
He said: “The general populace in the state has been subjected to unnecessary hardship by depriving them access to their hard earned money, ostensibly to precipitate civil unrest that could lead to the postponement of the most awaited general elections scheduled for next week.”
CBN cash swap policy hurting harder – Gani Adams
The Aare Onakakanfo of Yoruba land, Iba Gani Ige Adams, said in Abeokuta yesterday that the present situation in the country where the citizens cannot access their money to buy food and other necessities is not good for the country.
He asked the federal government and the CBN to roll out more measures to ease the cash swap.
Adams spoke to reporters in Abeokuta on the sidelines of the Olumo/Lisabi Festival of the Egba people hosted by the Alake of Egbaland, Oba Adedotun Gbadebo.
CBN denies directing banks to accept old N500, N1, 000 notes
The Central Bank yesterday denied reports that it had authorised Deposit Money Banks (DMBs) to collect the old N500 and N1,000 banknotes.
The CBN Director of Corporate Communications Osita Nwanisobi said the apex bank was only mandated to reissue and re-circulate the old N200 up to April 10, 2023, in line with President Muhammadu Buhari’s directive.
The CBN advised the public to disregard any message and/or information not formally released by the bank on this subject.
It also advised media practitioners to endeavour to verify any information from the correct sources before publication.
Earlier yesterday, a staff of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) branch of the bank had told the huge crowd who had gathered there to deposit their old N500 and N1000 notes that only those with up to N500,000 could be attended to by the CBN.
He advised those with sums below the amount to go and deposit same with the commercial banks after registering on the CBN portal.
Several of the commercial banks yesterday e-mailed their customers that they would open for business today to receive their old N500 and N1000 notes.
One of the messages reads: “Dear Valued Customer, this is to inform you that our branches shall receive old notes up to a maximum of N500,000 (five hundred thousand naira) after registration on the CBN portal.
Please note that deposits of more than N500,000 (Five Hundred Thousand Naira) should be taken to the nearest CBN location.
“In addition, our branches will be opened tomorrow (today) Saturday 18 February 2023 to receive old notes.”
Depositors besiege Lagos CBN
A large number of Nigerians yesterday stormed the Lagos annex of the CBN to deposit their old N500 and N1000 notes.
The uncontrollable crowd shouted and pushed one another as they waited for officials to attend to them.
Many had to leave in frustration.
Soldiers bar depositors from CBN Benin
Armed soldiers yesterday barred depositors from moving close to the Benin branch of the apex bank.
The two sides of the dualised Akpakpava Road, in front of CBN Benin, were also cordoned off by the soldiers, who prevented access by pedestrians, commuters and motorists, thereby paralysing commercial activities in the area.
Depositors from commercial banks, who had the old notes to deposit at CBN, returned home with their cash in frustration.
All residents of Benin and its environs were no longer transacting businesses with the old naira notes, which were being rejected, while the redesigned naira notes were not available at commercial banks’ counters and Automated Teller Machines (ATMs).
The displeased managements of commercial banks were still taking stock of their main buildings and ATMs that were vandalised, destroyed or burnt on Wednesday, during the violent protests in Benin and its environs.
Depositors also besieged the Owerri branch of the CBN in an attempt to lodge their old notes.
One of them who gave his name as Vincent said despite being at the bank very early morning on Friday, he did not see any official to attend to them.
“I came very early morning because we were told by our banks to come to CBN to make our deposit but nobody is attending to us,” he lamented.
Many commercial banks in Abia State remained shut to customers yesterday.
A few other banks that had cash in their ATMs had huge crowds until about 12 noon when the cash in the ATMs got exhausted.
Some transport companies, especially those carrying passengers to other parts of the country, have provided POS machines to enable their customers pay the fares, but the intra-city transport companies said they would only accept cash payments.
Depositors were turned back at the Yenagoa branch of the CBN yesterday.
A victim who identified herself simply as Ebi, said: “I collected plenty of old notes on Wednesday after the Supreme Court adjourned the Naira redesign suit until February 22.
“On Thursday after President Buhari’s broadcast, I learnt people were no longer collecting the old notes except N200.
“I went to the bank to pay it in, it was rejected. I took it to the market, it was rejected. I finally made up my mind to take it to the CBN, I was turned back.
“I am still in shock. I have much money I can’t use and nobody is willing to accept it.
“We are indeed confused about what is happening in this country. The Executive and the Judiciary appear to be working at cross purposes. If not, how can one explain what is happening between the Presidency and the Supreme Court.”
Obey Supreme Court ruling on naira notes, Ekiti Assembly tells Buhari, CBN
The Ekiti State House of Assembly urged President Buhari and the Central Bank to obey the Supreme Court order which allows both the old and new N200, N500 and N1,000 notes co-exist until the determination of the suit before the apex court.
The Assembly also resolved that the Commissioner for Finance and Economic Development, Mr. Akintunde Oyebode, should set machinery in motion to regulate the activities of Point of Sale (POS) operators with a view to saving the people of the state from exploitation and exorbitant charges imposed on them.
In a resolution passed by the Assembly at a plenary yesterday, the lawmakers appealed to the people of the state to remain calm in the face of the hardship they are going through over the scarcity of new notes.
PRP asks Emefiele to resign or get sacked
The Peoples Redemption Party (PRP) called for the resignation of the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Mr. Godwin Emefiele, for making Nigerians suffer.
The party’s National Executive Committee (NEC) asked President Muhammadu Buhari to sack Mr. Emefiele should he fail to honourably resign.
The PRP threatened to sue the CBN and commercial banks for denying it access to its funds as a registered political party through an order of the apex bank which restricted over-the-counter cash withdrawal to N20,000.
It said it would be seeking punitive damages against the CBN for enforcing an illegal order for acting outside its guiding rules.
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