The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Zamfara State branch, has ordered five commercial banks in the state to immediately release new naira notes to Point of Sale (POS) operators or face sanctions.

The controller of CBN in the state, Buhari Abbas, gave the order in Gusau during a sensitization workshop organised by the Association of POS Operators in Zamfara State.

The banks are First Bank, Access bank, UBA, FCMB, and Zenith bank. They were ordered to immediately release new naira notes to operators of POS, specifically those operators with accounts in the stated banks.

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Abbas explained that the CBN introduced the new naira notes to discontinue the circulation of old notes in the hand of the public.

“Over 85% of currency in circulation are outside the banking system, so the major objectives of this design is to reduce the number of cash outside the banking system and to promote financial inclusion.”

Mr. Abass further urged operators of POS to consider and assist in the opening of a new bank account for anyone who wants to deposit money and has no account.

He further noted that it is a punishable offence for people to reject old naira notes before the deadline date of January 31st, 2023.

“For people to reject the old naira notes before the expiration of the deadline is really an offence and punishable.”

Earlier, the Association of POS Operators had cried for help from the CBN over the non-availability of new naira notes in the state.

Bashar Suleiman, a POS operator from the Kaura-Namoda Local Government Area of the state, lamented that both rural and urban communities were finding it difficult to assess cash at the point of service across the state.

He further called for more enlightenment campaigns to their members and the general public about the e-naira policy across the state.