Naira Notes Scarcity Hits North-East States As POS Operators Raise Charges

The shortage of Nigerian currency, the naira, has once again hit the North-East, intensifying the ongoing hardship experienced by the people in the region.

This comes amid high cost of living, occasioned by removal of subsidy on Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) by President Bola Tinubu.

SaharaReporters reports that obtaining naira notes has become a daunting chaIlenge to residents across the North-East zone.

Bank customers spoken to are complaining of the inability to access cash over the counter, just as many bank Automated Teller Machines (ATM), have limited daily cash withdrawals to N20,000 only, irrespective of account type.

Surprisingly, the situation is not the same with operators of Point Of Sale (POS) businesses.

This is because POS is now a booming business due availability of cash, as they now charge N2000 per N10,000 unit of withdrawal.

Before the current cash crunch, it costs between N500 to N1000 to withdraw the sum of N10, 000 from a POS machine.

To this effect, many bank depositors believe the artificial scarcity was created by bank owners to make brisk business through the POS.

They wondered how POS businesses have enough cash while deposit banks don't.

Suleiman Baba Jada, an elderly citizen told SaharaReporters that after failing to withdraw cash from one of the commercial banks in Yola, the Adamawa State capital, he was charged N200 per unit of N10,000.

"It's clearly a case of broad day robbery to charge N8000 for a N400,000 transaction. This is crazy!

"I have no doubt the naira shortage was created deliberate to push up the POS business, else how can you explain that deposit banks have no notes but POS operators have," Baba Jada queried.

Another resident Bala Sadiq said, "I filled a cheque of N2 million, but I was told I can only be afforded N500,000. That N1.5 million bank wire transfer would have to make up the balance. I had to pay N40, 000 charges to get the balance from POS people," he added.

For Junaid Mahmud in Gombe, the Gombe State capital, "the situation calls for an investigation by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC)."

When contacted over the naira scarcity, some bank mangers who spoke anonymously blamed it on the practice of buying and hoarding of grains.

"Customers will come and withdraw hundreds of billions and they won't return them. They used the money to buy and store grains; why won't this create cash shortage," one of the managers explained.

There is the need for the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to wade into the matter so as to ease the suffering of the masses.