By Adedapo Adesanya
The federal government has apologised to Nigerians over the current scarcity of the cash, assuring that it was not an attempt at restraining the populace from accessing cash.
The apology was offered by the Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mr Mohammed Idris, during a media briefing on President Bola Tinubu’s administration’s achievements in Abuja.
The minister gave an assurance that the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) was working to make new notes available to the public for spending.
“The government is aware that there is this cry by Nigerians of the scarcity of Naira notes and CBN is already working in that direction and new notes and more and new notes will be produced,” Mr Idris said
“And Nigerians will have more money to spend,” he assured.
Business Post reports that most commercial banks have stopped dispensing cash from their Automated Teller Machine (ATM) points, while at over-the-counter (OTC), they ration cash to customers, in one of the big lenders, they pay as low as N5,000 per day, and in others, as high as N50,000 per day.
“It is not a deliberate policy to stifle Nigerians or take Naira out of Nigerians like during the Emiefele days,” Mr Idris said.
He said the Mr Tinubu administration is optimistic that necessary steps have been taken to ensure Nigerians experience a better year in 2024.
In a related development, the CBN accused banks and Point-of-Sale (POS) operators of being behind the cash scarcity in the country, threatening to deal with them if they do not stop this act.
In a statement issued by the acting Director of Corporate Communications at the CBN, Mrs Sidi-Ali Hakama, the banks and the POS operators were alleged to be colluding to profit from the hardship residents of the nation were going through at the moment.
The apex bank expressed frustration at the “inappropriate actions” of the banks and the POS operators, saying it was “investigating the reported cases capable of undermining the smooth running of the economy.”
“Meanwhile, members of the public are encouraged to use alternative payment channels as well as report any case of unauthorised activities, such as capping and hoarding, by banks or PoS agents to the CBN branch in their locations,” the notice read in part.
Dipo Olowookere