Business
Banks begin dispensing old N500, N1000 notes to customers, says ‘It has been approved by CBN’
Some commercial banks in Lagos have started issuing the old naira notes to customers at their various automated teller machines (ATMs) terminals and over the counter.
The development is in compliance with the new directive of the supreme court, extending the validity period of the old notes to the end of the year.
Following the controversy that trailed the naira redesign policy of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) from October last year, several states sought the supreme court’s intervention in extending the validity of the old N200, N500, and N1, 000 notes.
On February 8, the court restrained the CBN from enforcing the February 10 deadline following an ex parte application brought by the states.
It later insisted that the old notes remained legal tender while adjourning the hearing of the case brought against the CBN on the policy on February 15.
Setting a new deadline in its final judgment on the matter last week, the apex court ruled that the old N200, N500, and N1,000 notes should continue as legal tender until December 31, 2023.
Checks by newsmen on Tuesday show that some commercial banks have stated to comply with the court order, despite silence from the CBN and President Muhammadu Buhari.
It was observed that a Zenith Bank branch in Festac Town paid out the old notes to customers over the counter.
“It has been approved by CBN for circulation till December 31 and that’s why we can dispense to our customers,” a bank official said.
Another bank official said the branch had “received orders to begin dispensing old notes to our customers”.
The ATMs at the branches of the United Bank for Africa (UBA) close to Agege-Pen Cinema Bridge, and Guaranty Trust Bank (GTB) in the Ikeja area Lagos, were also dispensing the old notes when TheCable reporters visited.
Isa Abdulmumin, CBN spokesperson, said both the old and new notes are legal tender and banks are currently issuing to customers.
However, he said the CBN was yet to issue an official statement on the matter.
“Banks are paying old notes as well as new notes. They are all legal tender,” he said.
“Yes, the CBN has not issued an official statement on the issue. Anyone banks give to you, you can collect. We just want to make life easy for Nigerians.”
Abdulmumin expressed concern on the continued rejection of the old notes by some traders and transporters.
He said the old notes should not be rejected as they are still a valid means of exchange.
“No. They can’t reject it. It’s all legal tender,” he said.
The Federal Airport Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) has begun the sale of electronic tags (e-tags) at airports.
In a statement on Friday, FAAN said this initiative is in line with the presidential directive that mandates the use of e-tags for accessing the nation’s federal airports.
“Following the presidential directive that all citizens are mandated to pay for e-tags at all the 24 federal airports across the country, we wish to inform the general public that the e-tags are available for sale from Friday, 17th May, 2024 at the following locations,” FAAN said.
“Lagos: Murtala Muhammed International Airport Lagos, Terminal 1, 5th Floor) Office of HOD Commercial. Contact: 08033713796 or 08023546030.
“Abuja: Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, HOD Commercial Office (General Aviation Terminal) Contact: 08034633527 or 08137561615.”
FAAN said there will be an option to pay in cash at the access gates for motorists without e-tags.
On May 14, Festus Keyamo, minister of aviation, announced everyone, including the president and vice-president, would pay tolls at the nation’s airports.
Keyamo said the government was losing over 82 percent of the revenue it should have earned from the access fee.
Emirates Airlines has confirmed its return to operations in Nigeria starting October 1, 2024.
The airline disclosed this via its official X handle Thursday.
“We’re back, Nigeria! We’ll be resuming services to Lagos from 1 October 2024, and we can’t wait to offer unrivalled connectivity to Dubai and beyond to over 140 cities,” the tweet read.
The airline will be operating a daily service between Lagos State and Dubai, and will offer customers more choice and connectivity from Nigeria’s largest city to, and through, Dubai.
The naira depreciated to N1,550 against the dollar at the parallel section of the foreign exchange (FX) market on Wednesday.
The current FX rate signifies a decline of 1.95 percent from the N1,520/$ reported on May 13.
Currency traders, also known as street traders, in Lagos, quoted the buying rate of the local currency at N1,510/$ and the selling rate at N1,550/$ — leaving a profit margin of N40.
At the official window, the local currency appreciated by 4.21 percent against the dollar from N1,520.4/$ on May 14 to close at N1,459.02 on Wednesday.
According to FMDQ Exchange, a platform that oversees the official window, a dollar was sold as high as N1,593 and at a low rate of N1,401 during trading hours.
The daily foreign exchange market turnover was $289.14 million.
On May 14, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) said foreign missions based in Nigeria use third parties to transact in foreign currencies.
Speaking during an interview, Wilson Uwujaren, EFCC’s acting director of public affairs, said the commission has a task force whose duty is to fight the abuse of the naira and discourage transactions in dollars within Nigeria — which is against the law.
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Bodex F. Hungbo, SPMIIM is a multiple award-winning Nigerian Digital Media Practitioner, Digital Strategist, PR consultant, Brand and Event Expert, Tv Presenter, Tier-A Blogger/Influencer, and a top cobbler in Nigeria.
She has widespread experiences across different professions and skills, which includes experiences in; Marketing, Media, Broadcasting, Brand and Event Management, Administration and Management with prior stints at MTN, NAPIMS-NNPC, GLOBAL FLEET OIL AND GAS, LTV, Silverbird and a host of others
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