The high level of mutilated naira notes in the country has led to blame games, as citizens state the need for new prints production to replace the bad ones.
Speaking in an interview with The Tide in Port Harcourt Monday, a retired chartered accountant with Shell Petroleum Development Company Limited, Mr Isaac Ukaegbu, said that the N100 notes are the worst hit in this current level of mutilation, adding that “when a currency note is mutilated, acceptability becomes low”.
He said that even the banks find it difficult to change the very bad notes, adding that these days, people quarrel constantly in commercial vehicles and market places because of mutilated naira notes.
Ukaegbu noted that most times transactions become difficult because a business man or woman has rejected what is in a customer’s hand, stating that the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) is not helping the issue.
The retired accountant said that “CBN is expected to withdraw the notes through the commercial banks, but the Apex Bank has not given them any instruction to that effect.
However the value of naira remains the same mutilated or new prints.
Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of GEMP Engineering Limited, Mr Philip West said “nobody feels better with mutilated naira notes.
The CEO said that it is difficult to see N100 and 200 prints these days and that the ones in the system have suffered from over circulation adding that those in the market and general public should be blamed for this.
He noted that the higher denomination like N1000 and N500 notes are not treated the way the lower ones are treated, adding that the CBN is producing those ones on daily basis, which are on high demand during withdrawal inside the banks and at ATM centres.
In his contribution, Rev Victor Taylor of Assemblies of God Church, Silver Valley, branch blamed the mutilation on the material used to produce the lower denominations, saying that he has lost a lot of money due to rejection by traders.
He called on the CBN to create more awareness on the handling of the notes adding that there is an urgent need to produce new notes on the lower denominations especially the N200 and N100 notes.
A graduate of Computer Science who did his industrial training in the banking sector, Mr Chukwudi Uka, blamed the mutilation on the citizens, stating the need for everybody to use wallets for the notes.
Uka also noted the need for people to put the money they give to celebrators in the envelop instead of the ‘spraying’ which mutilates the naira notes.
He said that some commercial banks refuse to collect mutilated naira notes due to the commission charged by the CBN to change the notes.
Also, Gife Nwazue, an entrepreneur told The Tide that the N100 notes in circulation are irritating and always made her to quarrel with her customers who reject them.
It would be recalled that the Acting Director of Communications in CBN, Isaac Okorafor last week accused commercial banks of sabotaging the effort of the apex bank in replacing mutilated notes with new ones.
Okorafor said that the apex bank is aware of the high level of mutilated notes in the country and stated the need for “customers to demand new naira notes from the respective banks and reject dirty notes”.