The Central Bank of Nigeria, Ilorin branch, Kwara State on Saturday assured residents of the state that no one will be denied of having access to the new naira notes so as to boost the economic transformation of the country.
The apex bank, however, said that it has made available enough new naira notes to the commercial banks in the state in order to be distributed to their ATM points for the residents of the state.
The Ilorin branch controller of CBN, Mr Lamidi Najim, stated this in Ilorin, the state capital during the monitoring activities embarked on by the management of the branch to some banks in the state.
Among the banks monitored were UBA, Zenith and Access.
Najim, however, said that the CBN has put all measures on the ground that would assist the residents of the state to have access to the new banknotes.
“The newly redesigned naira notes were introduced by the CBN to control the amount of money in circulation, check counterfeiting, lower inflation rate and discourage ransom payment.
“Apart from exchanging the new notes in banks, the apex bank says it has also made available cash swap to allow those in the rural communities swap their old currency for new ones,” Najim stated.
Meanwhile, the residents of the state have appealed for an extension of the policy so as to assist them to have access to the new naira notes.
Some of the residents who spoke with journalists over the weekend expressed concern over their plights at various banks and ATM points of getting the new notes.
Some of the banks limited withdrawal at ATM point to N10,000 while others who did cash swap in the banks were allowed to exchange up to N20,000 per person.
The residents said that it was not easy for them to get the new naira notes as the deadline is moving to an end.
