Gov Zulum of Borno state, has threatened to take away the rights to any bank structure therein if they don’t use their automated teller machines to distribute the new naira notes (ATMs).
Gov Zulum made the threats in the city of Maiduguri after visiting bank branches on Friday, February 3, to observe the difficulties locals were encountering while trying to stand in long lines at ATMs to acquire new naira notes amid severe scarcity and despair.
The governor stated on a visit to one of the banks: “Any bank in Borno State that is not willing to ensure their ATMs are fully dispensing new naira notes cash to ease the suffering of our people, we will withdraw their land title immediately. We will only spare Banks with genuine constraints that are verifiable.
“Many people are said to be here since 3 am, some could not even eat anything. The new naira note and even the old ones are not available and that is adversely affecting commercial activities in the state and people are suffering.
“We just released salaries of about 5 billion naira and the banks don’t have money, some of the ATMs are not working. We don’t have any problem with the CBN policy or the withdrawal limit, they said individuals can only withdraw N20,000, but why can’t everyone have access to that N20,000.”
The governor also lamented how “wicked rich people” were exploiting poor people in the rural area with the Naira scarcity.
He said, “Yesterday I was in Gubio with a population of over 70,000 people but it was impossible to source N100,000 in the entire local government, neither of the new note nor the old notes. A ram that is worth N100,000 is now being sold for N35,000 because people are desperate for cash, and some wicked rich people are going to rural areas to exploit poor people.”
