Lagos residents have expressed frustration and anger as they spend hours in long queues without being able to withdraw the new naira notes via automated teller machines (ATMs).

Checks at some banks around Airport Road, Ikotun, Surulere, Ejigbo and Oshodi-Isolo, revealed that people queued up for more than one hour to be able to withdraw as little as N2,000.

The situation was the same in almost all bank branches on the mainland, while the maximum amount a customer could withdraw was N20,000.

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) had ordered banks to load their ATMs with the newly redesigned naira notes to ensure easy access.

The new banknotes comprising N200, N500 and N1,000 became legal tender on December 15, after President Muhammadu Buhari unveiled them on November 23 in Abuja. The CBN had fixed January 31 as the deadline for collecting the old banknotes but later extended it to February 17.

Bank customers who spoke in separate interviews called on CBN to compel the commercial banks to dispense the new notes at their ATMs to reduce the difficulty of withdrawing cash.

Affiong Peters, who owns a provision shop, said, “The scarcity of the new naira notes has led to some people being hungry and not able to feed their families because of their inability to withdraw money from the ATMs. You will not believe that I have been on this queue since 12:00 p.m., and it’s almost 1:30 p.m., (and) I still have not been able to withdraw. Government should come to our aid.”

Owolabi Anjorin, a petty trader, also called on the apex banks to ensure the new notes are in circulation.

“I was in the queue for one hour before I could withdraw just N10,000. If you were not a customer of the bank where you were to withdraw from, the ATM would only pay you half of the amount you wanted,” stated Mr Anjorin. “I think this extension is okay, but dispensing back the old notes that customers have deposited is not helping the issue at hand. So, if the apex bank can allow more money in circulation, it will help.”

Andrew Louis, an electrician, also spoke in the same vein.

“I have been here for over an hour waiting to withdraw my money. After two people withdrew about N20,000, the ATM stopped dispensing.

“When we asked what went wrong, the bank officials told us that the money had finished,” Mr Louis explained.

He added, “This is annoying. If they know that they do not have the new notes to give to us, it is better for them to still be collecting the old one while the new one is still coming as it is presently not in circulation.”

Ofonime Udoh, a nursery school minder, called on CBN to adjust its policy on the new naira notes and the withdrawal limit, saying it does not favour the poor masses.

“I went to the bank today to make a withdrawal, and I was told that I could not withdraw, but I could only deposit; ATMs and banking halls were not paying,” Ms Udoh stated.

She added, “The truth is that many people are stranded, some are crying that they cannot withdraw their money, marketers and petty traders are not selling because people are not coming to buy. So, they should help us look into it and adjust the policy for us. It’s not in our favour at all. 

(NAN)