Business
Empty ATMs: ‘Entrepreneurs, Customers, Banks, PoS Operators Accountable’
Following the growing number of Automated Teller Machines (ATMs) that have remained “temporarily unable to dispense cash” in recent times, the banking public has accused Deposit Money Banks (DMBs) of colluding with Point of Sales (PoS) terminal operators to deliberately trade on the naira and extort Nigerians of their hard-earned money.
Most bank customers who spoke to The Tide’s source and others that took to social media to vent their anger, therefore, called on the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to investigate the DMBs, with some arguing that selling naira to Nigerians simply because the banks claim there is no cash is also naira abuse.
From Lagos to Abuja, Port Harcourt to Kano, Enugu to Jos, POS agents are seen all over the nooks and crannies of Nigeria, helping everyday people perform their transactions.
However, as many ATM machines are hardly cash-loaded, the banking public have started calling for ban of the service due to abuse and extortion so that every transaction could be carried out through other electronic channels or through the banks.
A customer of one of the new generation Banks said, “POS operators selling Cash for a fee without a banking licence is another abuse of Naira in this country.
“They will drain the ATM late at night and 7am in the morning. They will situate right in front of the ATM and sell you cash. Nigeria is not a real place”.
Analysts believe that the reality is that POS operators do not get their money from ATMs, but buy the local currency from the banks.
As if operating a racket in Nigeria, a debit card can only withdraw N150,000 per day which is below what the average POS operator transacts daily.
According to Iroh Uzoigwe, “POS operators have more than 10 Banks accounts with different ATM cards. They only use one or two for business and the rest for ATM withdrawals.
“I feel commercial banks in Nigeria intentionally refuse to stock their ATMs with cash so that people will go to POS operators. They collude with these people. How can bank not have cash in these ATMs? It’s so funny. Close the ATMs if you don’t want to stock it”.
Eniola Daniel, who took to his X ( formerly Twitter) handle, said Nigerian banks and the CBN have surrendered to POS operators- it’s troubling.
“No money in ATM machines but POS operators around the banks have cash and no one is talking. CBN is just not bothering, we are losing all sense of normalcy in NIGERIA. What is happening @cenbank?”, he lamented.
Some Commercial drivers in Port Harcourt have said that the Federal Government’s N1,350 fuel discount is yet to reduce their daily operating cost.
A cross session of commercial drivers who spoke to The Tide correspondents in Port Harcourt said they are yet to feel the impact of the government discount, adding that most filling stations in the city are even selling above the pump price
A driver Jude Ogbo who operates the mile 1 Rumuokoro axis of Port Harcourt said plies the discount has not reflected in his daily fuel expenses.
“Since the discount was announced, many filling stations still sell at the old price. When you go there, you discover they sell you two litres at the price of one. For now, we have not seen any reduction,”_ he said.
Another commercial driver, Comrade Ishmael Uzeho who operates within the Port Harcourt metropolis, said the discount is not being implemented across the country.
“How has the discount affected us? I will say it has not. Many stations are not working. Only NNPC is working and that is just one person in the whole country. If government really wants to help, let the fuel price go down properly,”_ he said.
Uzeho added that if the price of fuel goes down, transport fares will also go down. He noted that his route fare has remained at N500.
On his part, Mr. Moses Dapa, Supervisor at Sam Jaja Foundation Transport Company, said the company has not increased its fares despite the high cost of fuel.
“We are still running normal price. We charge N2,000 and N5,000 depending on the destination. We will not increase our price. I don’t know about other parks, but for Sam Jaja, we are maintaining normal price,”_ Dapa said.
He appealed to passengers to understand that drivers are not using high fuel price as an excuse to charge excessive fares.
Other drivers who spoke said the federal government should monitor the NNPCL retail stations to ensure that the directive is implemented.
Recalled that The Federal Government in abid to reduce transportation cost in the country had announced a 30-day margin discount at NNPC Retail stations across the country from October 1 to 31,
However investigation revealed that the policy is yet to affect transportation cost in the country.
By; Stephens Sopakriba and Saint Davies
In a press statement released to The Tide’s source on Friday in Abuja, the group said Nigeria had a significant resource advantage due to its vast natural gas reserves.
“At a time when global energy markets face unprecedented volatility and rising operational costs, Nigeria stands on a massive resource advantage with its vast natural gas reserves,” the group said.
Highlighting this potential, Alfa Designs urged the nation to move past complaints over energy costs and aggressively embrace Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) as a sustainable engine for economic growth.
While federal policy adjustments have sought to cushion the impact of global energy shocks, industry experts emphasised that long-term relief hinges on a rapid, nationwide transition to gas.
“Transitioning away from expensive traditional petroleum products promises to ease the financial burden on ordinary citizens.
“It will also reposition Nigeria as an attractive industrial hub capable of drawing foreign direct investment and driving job creation,” it said.
To demonstrate the practical feasibility of this transition, the group said it recently partnered with a global Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) to lower the entry barriers for commercial drivers.
“By negotiating directly with the manufacturer, we reduced the total cost of acquiring and installing a CNG conversion kit for commercial tricycles (commonly known as Keke NAPEP) from up to N700,000 down to under N450,000.”
The group said this shift offers dramatic immediate financial benefits for local operators, with petrol currently selling at roughly N1,390 per liter.
It said that, in comparison, at a CNG equivalent price of about N98 per liter, a daily commercial driver using 10 liters of fuel reduces its daily energy expenditure from N13,900 to N3,980.
“This represents a daily net savings of N9,920, or more than 71 per cent.
“Over a standard 26-day working month, drivers save over N257,000, allowing them to fully recover the cost of the CNG conversion in less than 46 operational days.”
The company further stated that when scaled nationally, the economic implications are monumental.
“Nigeria consumes approximately 50 million liters of gasoline daily, costing roughly N69.5 billion per day.
“A nationwide 71 per cent reduction in fuel expenditure would generate daily national energy savings of N49.6 billion.
“On an annualised basis, this shift equates to approximately N18.1 trillion, or $13.5 billion, kept within the domestic economy.”
The group added that those recurring national savings would offer a vital mechanism to help address Nigeria’s estimated $2.3 trillion infrastructure deficit.
It said reinvesting those funds into the economy helps eliminate the 30 to 40 per cent operational overhead currently consumed by imported fossil fuels.
“The resulting boost to corporate margins expands the national tax base, generates reliable user-fee revenues to make major transit projects bankable, and creates a self-sustaining financial cycle,” it said.
