Economy
Scarcity of New Naira Notes Worries Nigerians as Deadline Draws Closer
By Dipo Olowookere
Some Nigerians have expressed serious concerns over the scarcity of the new Naira notes in circulation, also a month after the banks were allowed to make them available to their customers officially.
On October 26, 2022, the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Mr Godwin Emefiele, at a special press briefing, announced that the bank would redesign the N200, N500, and N1,000 banknotes.
According to him, the move was to control the amount of cash in circulation as the central bank had observed that more than 80 per cent of the money in circulation was not in the banking vaults.
On November 23, 2022, President Muhammadu Buhari unveiled the new notes, and on December 15, 2022, they became available for Nigerians through the banks.
During his chat with newsmen last October, Mr Emefiele said the old banknotes would remain valid until after January 31, 2023.
His announcement was met with mixed feelings, with some asking the central bank to extend the deadline for the mopping up of the old Naira notes from the system as it was too short.
But the CBN has maintained that it would not extend the date from January 31, 2023.
About two weeks ago, Business Post reported that Automated Teller Machines (ATMs) of most commercial banks in the country were still dispensing old notes to customers.
Also, bank customers were still being given the old Naira denominations from over-the-counter (OTC) due to the scarcity of the new notes.
In the report, a staff of one of the commercial banks, who asked for anonymity, said they were instructed to ration the notes, while another bank representative confirmed that the new notes are “being rationed” because the CBN has not provided sufficient amounts to banks.
With about three weeks to the deadline for the old notes to cease to be legal tender in Nigeria, some Nigerians, especially POS operators, are raising concerns about the scarcity of the new notes.
One of the operators, who identified herself as Mrs Shakirat Adediran, said she does not know what step to take as the deadline draws closer.
She also informed this reporter that some of her customers reject the new notes whenever she pays them with them.
“I am really confused about what to do. I intend to stop accepting the old notes from the last week of the deadline and take them to the bank. I do not want to be caught unawares.
“Also, the problem is when we go to banks to get cash, we are given the old notes. Before now, they used to ration it, but this has stopped. They pay us in old notes.
“Even our customers reject the new notes when we give them. They complain that the money looks fake. Even the educated ones do not want to collect the redesigned Naira,” Mrs Adediran, who operates her business in Lagos, told Business Post.
This view was also echoed by a bank customer in Lagos, who identified himself as Mr Sunday Okoro. He disclosed that the new notes are very scarce.
“With the way these new Naira notes are scarce in circulation, I foresee the CBN extending the deadline. The time it gave to mop up the old notes is just too short,” Mr Okoro told this reporter.
An operator of a nails shop in the Ipaja area of Lagos, Ms Bisi Tajudeen, said “I only saw the new N1,000 note during the festive period. I am yet to see what the N200 and N500 denominations look like. The money is very scarce, and I wonder how the CBN intends to address this issue, except it wants to put many Nigerians into trouble by making their money useless after January 31 if the deadline is not extended.”
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) is seeking a reduction in import duty exemptions, which rose to N34 trillion, limiting its ability to increase its revenue generation threshold.
The Comptroller-General of the Customs Service, Mr Adewale Adeniyi, disclosed that the value of import duty exemption certificate approvals increased to that level in 2025, describing the policy as one of the major factors restricting its revenue generation.
At an investigative session of the Senate Committee on Finance with revenue-generating agencies in Abuja on Monday, Mr Adeniyi explained that government fiscal policies have continued to impact the revenue-generating capacity of the Customs Service, both positively and negatively.
“The NCS would have generated significantly higher revenue over the years if not for government-approved import duty waivers and other external factors affecting collections,” he said.
He added that the Import Duty Exemption Certificate scheme, introduced in March 2020, accounted for about N34 trillion in approvals in 2025, with nearly 60 per cent covering duty-free importation of military hardware due to Nigeria’s prevailing security challenges.
Other government-backed duty waivers, he noted, covered the importation of Compressed Natural Gas (CNG), electric and hybrid vehicles, healthcare equipment and medical supplies, industrial machinery and manufacturing inputs, as well as food import intervention programmes.
While acknowledging the impact of the waivers on Customs revenue, Mr Adeniyi argued that fiscal policy should not be assessed solely on the basis of revenue generation but also on its broader economic and social objectives.
He, however, urged the federal government to establish stronger monitoring mechanisms to ensure beneficiaries of duty waivers deliver the intended economic outcomes, including lower consumer prices, increased local production and improved healthcare access.
The committee also expressed displeasure over the absence of several heads of government agencies invited to the hearing, including the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency of Nigeria (SMEDAN), Industrial Training Fund (ITF), and the Federal Medical Centre (FMC), Jabi.
The Chairman of the Senate Committee on Finance, Mr Sani Musa, warned that the affected chief executives must appear at the committee’s next sitting or face severe sanctions under the Senate’s rules.
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By Adedapo Adesanya
The NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange rose by 0.40 per cent on Monday, July 13, buoyed by buying interest in 11 Plc, Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) Plc and UBN Property Plc, which offset the profit-taking in Food Concepts Plc, the parent company of Chicken Republic.
11 Plc gained N20.69 to end at N227.64 per share compared with last Friday’s price of N206.95 per share, CSCS Plc grew by N1.83 to N91.48 per unit from N89.65 per unit, and UBN Property Plc added 1 Kobo to sell at N1.81 per share versus N1.80 per share.
On the flip side, Food Concepts Plc depreciated by 24 Kobo to close at N2.45 per unit, in contrast to the preceding session’s N2.69 per unit.
As a result, the market capitalisation increased by N9.2 billion to N2.587 trillion from N2.578 trillion, and the NASD Security Index (NSI) improved by 15.33 points to 4,311.67 points from 4,296.34 points.
Yesterday, the volume of securities traded by investors surged by 615.9 per cent to 9.1 million units from the previous 1.3 million units, and the value of securities rose by 997.1 per cent to N320.4 million from the preceding session’s N29.2 million, while the number of deals decreased by 12.5 per cent to 28 deals from last Friday’s 32 deals.
At the close of trades, Great Nigeria Insurance (GNI) Plc remained the most active stock by value on a year-to-date basis, with 3.4 billion units valued at N8.4 billion, followed by Infrastructure Credit Guarantee (Infracredit) Plc with 2.3 billion units worth N6.5 billion, and CSCS Plc with 73.9 million units exchanged for N5.2 billion.
GNI Plc also closed the session as the most traded stock by volume on a year-to-date basis, with 3.4 billion units sold for N8.4 billion, followed by Infracredit Plc with 2.3 billion units traded for N6.5 billion, and Resourcery Plc with 1.1 billion units transacted for N415.7 million.
