Naira Scarcity: Order Emefiele To Supply Banks Old, New Notes – Afenifere Tells Buhari

President Muhammadu Buhari should order the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Governor, Godwin Emefiele, to supply commercial banks with both the old and new naira notes.

The pan-Yoruba socio-political organisation, Afenifere, stated this in a statement on Monday by its National Publicity Secretary, Jare Ajayi.

Afenifere said it was surprised that despite the comments made by the President last week that he was not against the order of the Supreme Court, his directives have not been fully complied with.

It also expressed concerns over the scarcity of naira notes following the directive by the apex bank that all the commercial banks should obey the Supreme Court judgement extending the deadline for old notes till December 31.

The organisation noted that reports from various parts of the country indicated that people were still finding it very difficult to obtain cash from banks and points of sale (POS) operators.

Afenifere lamented that the naira scarcity had lingered with banks still putting a limit on the amount a customer could withdraw, warning that the country and the citizens are in for serious economic and social crisis if the trend continued.

“This is making life very difficult for our people just as the situation is forcing many businesses to go under, especially small and medium scale businesses,” the statement read in part.

Afenifere also called on the president to prevail on the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) to ensure that petroleum products were widely available.