AS LAGOS'S JUDICIARY REJECTS THE OLD NAIRA, CONFUSION GROWS.

On Monday, account staff at the Lagos state judiciary stopped accepting outdated naira notes as payment for filing court documents. This choice in response to a directive from Polaris Bank PLC, the official bank of the court, to reject old notes that the Court deposited at the bank on Monday that they were no longer valid cash. However, this development has made the problem worse on the ground because Nigerians are still having trouble accessing the new naira notes and also having problems using e-banking. Recall that on February 8, 2023, the Supreme Court issued an interim order preventing the CBN from enforcing its 10 February deadline for the usage of the old naira note.

The order of interim injunction was issued by a seven-member court panel, presided over by justice John Okoro, in the face of severe shortages of the newly redesigned N200, N500, and N1,000 banknotes. Based a motion that was made by Kogi, Kaduna, and Zamfara States, three northern states governed by the All-Progressives Congress (APC), the court issued the temporary injunction.

The CBN unveiled the new notes in December of last year as part of its campaign against crimes, terrorism, and corruption.

SCARCITY OF NAIRA NOTE MAY AFFECT ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

Naira Scarcity has made things challenging for Manufacturers who need to market their products, from Manufacturers to Students and the average person are affected.

Mr. Kadri said the retail level affects them because in order to be perceived as being in business, sales would have to have been made, and sales has reduced over the past few days when speaking about the effects of the shortage of Naira notes on manufacturers and the general business climate in the country.

He claims that producers will have problems in selling their products, especially in rural and subnational areas where transactions are made in cash.

He said that in order to complete their transactions at that level, manufacturers who also need to obtain raw materials from rural communities need cash.

According to him, a further effect of lack of money on the economy is that they make it difficult for goods and services to move freely and easily, which is at the heart of commerce.

He continued by saying that because of the shortage and the resulting unrest, people are now just trying to survive, which means they are spending what little money they do have on cash. The Manufacturers Association of Nigeria members have begun to voice concerns about their unsold products, and some have even been forced to hire warehouses to store them. He said that if the scenario continues, some of the goods may reach the end of their useful lives, which will make it difficult for manufacturers to get rid of them and could have a detrimental effect on the sector.

He stated that the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria were talking about how the Currency Swap was being managed after implementation and that ATMs were still dispensing obsolete notes.

Furthermore, it would have been easier to concentrate on rural and unbanked areas—something that never happened—had the new Naira Notes not been swiftly issued. Mr. Kadri asserted that he and other members of the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria have grown weary of hearing about what can be done to alleviate the scarcity of New Naira Notes and that of Currency.

He highlighted that the best course of action for a good or commodity that is in short supply is to prioritize the allocation.

The demands to allocate FOREX at the official rate had regularly been turned down by MAN.

The decision was taken with the economy's best interests, not his own, in mind.

He continued by saying that while manufacturers who earn in dollars and repatriate them are unable to keep their earnings, when it comes to obtaining raw materials, necessary for manufacturing but unavailable in Nigeria, they will turn to the black market in order to obtain Forex. Doing this will assist to restrict the exposure of Manufacturers.

He claims that the Money Deposit Banks have failed to assist manufacturers in gaining access to FOREX and the earnings of Nigerian manufacturing enterprises that have been unable to exit the country with their money.

He applauded the advancements made in electronic payment, and the ability of manufacturers to send money outside the country without using cash, that more needs to be done, particularly in terms of expanding the platforms that can support this and continuing to innovate on what is already done.

The outrageously high costs for banking services need to be decreased.

The new notes are nowhere to be found despite the redesign and currency swap scheme having good intentions and benefits.