By Jimoh Ahmed &
Adedotun Aderoboye
|
Many people who wanted to withdraw money from Automated Teller Machines, ATMs in Akure and major towns in Ondo State went back home yesterday empty handed as the ATMs could not dispense money.
Many Point of Sale, POS, operators too did not have cash to give to their customers across the state.
In Akure, the State capital, bank customers who thronged various ATMs early in the morning were disappointed as they couldn’t withdraw money.
Report from Akoko, Owo and Ose local governments said residents have continued to lament the cash crunch as getting money to meet their daily needs have remained an herculean task.
Findings by The Hope revealed that only one ATM machine was working in Ikare Akoko on Sunday, while none was working in Owo.
Similarly, most of the POS agents were not giving cash to their customers as they complained that they do not have the new naira notes, while the few operating kept charging between N250 and N300 for the withdrawal of N1000.
The situation has brought untold hardship to residents.
Meanwhile, people have continued to express their displeasure over the ongoing conflicting directives given by the apex court and Muhammadu Buhari order.
According to an economist, Alhaji Jimoh Ayegboka, the cashless policy is right but it’s very premature for a country with over 70 percent illiterates that have no access to electronic banking.
Ayegboka disclosed that out of 45 towns and villages in Akokoland, only three of them have banking facilities.
He wondered how people living in this area will be able to have a seamless financial transactions without banking infrastructure.
He described the current hardship being experienced by the people as unnecessary if the federal government had listened to advice from economic experts and the cries of Nigerians who are at the receiving end of the policy.
In Ondo town, banks were still not attending to customers and most of the ATM stands in the community were not dispensing naira notes. People were forced to turn towards POS shops owners who are also having hard time finding money to give to their customers.
Most of the POS shops in the community were not opened for business because they don’t have cash to give to people. The few that were opened and have cash were still charging exorbitant fees on transactions.
A PoS shop owner, Mrs Iretiola Adeniran said “I don’t have new notes to give to customers. I don’t even have the old N200 notes to give to them. People come to my shop and leave with disappointment. Some will even call me on phone to monitor when I will have cash but there is no money to give them.
“Most of the money I have with me now are the old N1000 and N500 notes which customers don’t want anymore. I open shop nowadays because I may see people who want to send money. If I am able to get maybe one or two, I can use the money to do my business.”
A customer who spoke under the condition of anonymity described how a PoS shop at Oka area of the town was exploiting people due to cash scarcity.
His words: “I found it very funny when a PoS operator at Oka told us that we cannot withdraw more than N500 at once but we can do multiple withdrawals. Who will go there and withdraw only N500? What can that N500 buy for me and my family? I wanted to withdraw N20,000 and he will collect N2000 as charges. He will then claim that he is charging lower than N200 on each withdrawal. I had to leave the place because it does not make sense at all.”
An artisan, Mr. Ayomide Adewale said “I am fed up right now. I have been drinking garri since Tuesday. I have been working but there is no money to collect from my boss. Yesterday, he wanted to withdraw N10,000 so that he could settle us. We just wasted our time walking across Sabo as we didn’t see anything to withdraw. Most of the PoS did not have cash. The only one that had money said she collect N1500 as charges. We didn’t withdraw the money. Someone gave my boss N5000 which he shared to us. We are just living like slaves.”
