In response to the rejection of old naira notes by deposit money banks all throughout the country, oil marketers have threatened to close their filling stations.
According to reports, some of the petrol stations received circulars from the banks advising them to cease collecting old notes since the DMBs would not be able to recover them from marketers.
Following the debate over whether the Central Bank of Nigeria would phase out the old naira notes this February which was also rejected by traders and other traders.
Many families were left stranded by the development, and many had to find a way to make bank transactions.
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The Secretary of the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria, Abuja-Suleja, Mohammed Shuaibu, explained why some of the stations were rejecting the notes by stating that some of these banks closed operations for the day before the scheduled time. He emphasised that Nigerians shouldn’t blame the filling stations for not selling goods whenever they notice the closure of retail outlets.
The IPMAN representative stated that his members were eager to follow the Federal Government’s mandate that marketers utilise point-of-sale devices and accept bank transactions.
“There is a serious crisis now; bankers are not helping the system.
“They are passing circulars around now, asking filling stations not to collect old naira notes again. The bankers are saying filling stations should stop collecting old notes. And now, many of these filling stations are closing because where they make their deposits, the old notes are no longer permitted there.
“If this should continue, it is going to lead to a serious problem. They are asking us not to accept old notes because they won’t collect them from us. This is what is happening. So many of our members are now closing sales.”
“Some of these bank transfers are usually reversed, while at times, the transferred money will not get to the receiver. These are the problems we face with the network providers.
“However, we’ve been taking the pains to see that we help the government in alleviating the plights of the masses. But if these banks are now telling filling stations that they are not going to collect the old notes, it is going to be a problem.
“So, it is better for the authorities to call these banks to order immediately, otherwise, by the time we shut down, it is going to create a massive problem nationwide,” Shuaibu added.
