Naira Swap: CBN Engages Microfinance Banks, PoS Operators In Zamfara LGAs

To boost availability of the new naira notes, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) says it has engaged the microfinance banks and point-of-sale (PoS) operators to swap the old currency across troubled communities in Zamfara State.

The areas are located in the Zurmi, Shinkafi, Birnin Magaji and Maru local government areas (LGAs).

The CBN Branch Controller, Abbas Buhari, who spoke to journalists in Gusau, the state capital, on Wednesday, insisted on a maximum of N10,000 to be swapped per individual.

“We at the CBN have made arrangements to ensure the availability of the new currency notes in Zamfara rural areas, especially those bedevilled by insecurity,” the Branch Controller said.

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“Nigeria’s apex bank has engaged some microfinance banks and PoS operators in three local councils of Zurmi, Shinkafi, Birnin Magaji, and Dansadau in Maru Local Councils, which are considered to be the hotbeds of banditry and kidnapping.

“Only the sum of N10,000 can be swapped for an individual,” Buhari insist

This development comes hours after the CBN’s extension of the deadline for the old currency notes to cease circulation as Nigerians continue to join long queues in hopes of getting the new naira notes.

The apex bank however maintains that there is enough of the redesigned currency notes in circulation across the country.

The new naira notes, according to the CBN, has security features that cannot be counterfeited.

When Channels Television visited some automated teller machines (ATMs) in Gusau, residents lamented difficulties in accessing the new notes despite spending several hours on queue

They also decried the high charges by PoS operators, especially in rural areas.