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Old naira: Ondo banks defy Supreme Court

Victor Akinkuolie,
Adedotun Aderoboye &
Kayode Afolabi

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Majority of commercial banks in Ondo State yesterday defied the Supreme Court judgement which declared old N500 and N1000 notes as legal tender till the end of the year, The Hope investigation has revealed.

 It was gathered that only one bank, Access, Akure branch issued the old N500 note to its customers, but also stopped abruptly.

The bank on Monday and yesterday issued the old N500 note to customers across the counter.

As usual, large number of customers who besieged other banks, with the hope of withdrawing cash, were not attended to.

In Ondo town, the long queues at banks have not disappeared as people struggled for cash to withdraw, while some banks were still not fully operational.

Besides, The Hope observed growing apprehension among residents on the acceptance of the old notes by traders, many of whom said they were not ready to accept them.

Our reporters gathered that many petty traders, commercial drivers outrightly rejected the old N500 and N1000 notes from their customers because of the failure of Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, Governor, Godwin Emefiele to speak out on the judgment.

 Residents who have the old naira notes who spoke with The Hope said people were not accepting the old naira notes, saying that until they hear or read an order from President Muhammad Buhari or CBN’s Governor.

A grocery shop owner, Mr. Adegbehigbe Olaoluwa said the silence of President Muhammad Buhari and Governor Godwin Emefiele is unsettling traders.

He said “normally, when the Supreme Court gives a judgement, it becomes a law but with what we have seen in recent times, many of us are still waiting for Emefiele to order the banks to follow the judgement or president Buhari to address the nation before we start accepting the old naira notes. Who can blame them for doing that? Nobody wants to accept money that will be rejected elsewhere.”

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A trader, Mrs. Aina lamented that the problem is more than just people rejecting old notes as even the old naira notes are still not available to people to spend just like the new notes.

A trader, Mrs. Aduloju said “I do not have any problem accepting old notes from my customers if that is what everyone is doing. The problem we are facing in this town now is that some of the wholesalers that we buy goods from are saying that they don’t want old notes.

Report from Ore and Okitipupa said residents were unhappy over the rejection of the old Naira notes by traders in the market.

Some residents who spoke with The Hope said the issue will be solved only if the CBN Governor, Godwin Emefiele speak to Nigerians.

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Old naira: Ondo banks defy Supreme Court

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