Drama As Traders Reject Old Naira Notes In Calabar

In what will come across as a really dramatic development, some traders in Calabar, the Cross River State capital have rejected the old naira notes.

They have been rejecting the old naira notes citing the February 10 deadline of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN). 

When The Nation told them the deadline has been extended by the Supreme Court ruling, they refused to bulge. 

At Marian market and other shopping points across the state capital, the traders insisted they prefer a statement from the CBN.

The traders particularly at Marian market said they stand by the government deadline, saying they won’t accept the old notes.  

A trader in food stuff, Offiong Ekpenyong, said he decided to stop collecting the new notes because it may be difficult to swap.

He said even when you collect old notes, they queue at the bank endlessly to pay  in, affecting cash flow for their businesses. 

“We are not collecting anymore because the government says today is the deadline.

“Anyone who comes with the old notes I will reject it because it’s very hard to make use of it.

“You can stand in the line from morning till night just to pay it into your account and the wahala is too much.

“Government should try to help the poor people because we are suffering with this policy as against the rich.

“I have personally lost a great deal in terms of sales and my goods have gone bad because of this policy,” he said.

Asuquo Nya, who trades in various articles, said he has stopped collecting the old notes because he seems not to be able to make use of them.

He also cited the stress of going to the bank to either change the old notes or pay it into your account makes the whole thing unreasonable.

“Since yesterday, I stopped collecting the old notes.

“When you get money, you have to use it and buy something.

“So when I get money I will not be able to buy anything because my suppliers will not collect it.

“It’s needless for me to collect the money also because I will not be able to abandon my business and go spend hours to deposit it in my account.

“Government has to put policies in place to help the people rather than making them suffer; this is because our sales have dwindled since this policy started,” he said.