…Extracts Promise Of Relief From Tuesday
The governor of Ogun State, Prince Dapo Abiodun, on Monday, paid an unscheduled visit to the Abeokuta branch of the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, to seek relief on the amounts that citizens can withdraw in exchange for deposits made in commercial banks.
The governor also offered to lend members of his cabinet to banks to monitor cash distribution to ensure that no commercial bank or their agents hoard the new naira notes in the state.
The governor made these known when he visited the management of the apex bank, under the leadership of the Branch Controller, Wahab Oseni, in Abeokuta.
Governor Abiodun, who later met with the Bankers Forum, made up of managers of commercial banks in the state, also extracted a commitment from both the CBN and the commercial banks to make cash available to bank customers from Tuesday.
Abiodun insisted that it is disappointing to see long queues of residents at Automated Teller Machines, ATMs, waiting to cash from the system with so much stress and at the end of the day, some not getting enough to meet their immediate needs.
He added that it is humiliating that those who were attended to were paid not more than N2,000 per transaction.
Urging the CBN to ensure the availability of the new notes at commercial banks for people to withdraw their money, Abiodun explained that he was compelled to visit the state branch of the CBN as the “landlord, to find out how we can collaborate to ensure the success of the CBN policy on the new notes and currency swap.”
He added, “I’ve met with the President and CBN governor. It is within the right of the CBN by law and as enshrined in the Constitution.
“Our people went out in their numbers but our people who deposited money and felt they would have as much money as they had deposited or need for their daily needs and welfare and wellbeing.
“We’ve had to suspend our campaigns. I met with people over the weekend who said to me that they have not eaten for days, especially, those from the informal sector.
“As a governor, whose primary function is the welfare and security of our people, I need to find out how we can interact with you to see how we can improve on the current level of distribution of the currency to diffuse tension.”
The governor appealed to the youths in the state not to embark on any civil unrest, noting that such actions would only shut down the economy of the state and make things much more difficult.
He said, “I want to use this medium to talk to our youths that when there is a problem, the solution is not to hit the streets and to start protest marches; we can not solve a problem with another problem.
“I want to plead with our youths that rather than sending social media announcements of impending disobedience around town, they should embrace peace. We are a very peaceful state; we are very orderly and we have spent a lot of time and energy investing in that peace and security.
“You cannot because of this problem now want to begin to hit the street to shut down the system and commercial activities.”
In his remarks earlier, the state controller of the CBN, Oseni, pleaded with the people to exercise patience, assuring them that they will start having access to more cash as from Tuesday, February 7th, 2023.
Noting that the Ogun State branch of the bank has enough cash to distribute among commercial banks in the state, Oseni disclosed that the bank has come up with a plan that would see 40 per cent cash disbursed to money agents, 30 per cent paid across the counter and 30 per cent paid through the Automatic Teller Machines.
He also added that microfinance banks have also been added to the plan of cash disbursement across the country.
At the meeting were representatives of the CBN from Lagos and Abuja, Mr Adefuye Adeyemi and Mr Kayode Makinde, who further assured the good people of the Gateway State that the situation will improve Tuesday, and noted that the bank would ensure full compliance by commercial banks on the disbursement of cash.
Both the state CBN controller and the state government team, led by Governor Abiodun later had a session with commercial bank executives in his office on the modalities agreed upon with the apex bank to ease the naira scarcity facing the people.
