Confusion, Lamentations As Banks Reject Old Naira Notes In Ondo

Some commerical banks in Ondo State have sent their customers away with their old naira notes after they attempted to make a deposit on Monday.

This is in violation of the supereme court order and council of state decision that restrained the Central Bank of Nigeria from going ahead with the February 10 deadline for the naira swap.

It was gathered that many customers who went to the banks to make deposits were disappointed when the banks officials refused to collect the old notes.

At one of the new generation banks, an official advised customers to take the old notes to the Central Bank of Nigeria.

The bank official who spoke on the condition of anonymity said they were acting on an instruction from the Central Bank of Nigeria.

Other banks that were allegedly involved in the old naira note rejection are UBA, FCMB, First Bank and Zenith bank.

Some traders in Akure also refused to collect the old notes which left many residents of the state in confusion. The traders were said to have attributed their decisions to the refusal of banks to collect old notes in their possession.

The residents of the state however threatened to resume their protests against the CBN and commercial banks if the situation is not addressed.

An Akure resident who spoke to RovingNaija correspondent said, “Mr Governor should wade into the situation. These banks didn’t open on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday for people to deposit their old notes, now some banks are rejecting it.

“This may cause unrest if not cautioned. Governor of Kano shut down a renowned shopping mall as a result of rejection of old notes.” he stated.

Another resident from Owo, Owamoyo Tolani Okolo said, “the remaining #1700 old notes with me has been rejected. I trekked from Upenmen to Ikare junction, still trekking to Idasen-Owo. We shall overcome!”