Lockdown: Nigerians groan over inability to access cash stocked in banks

.POS vendors record business boom

.Address uncertainties ahead of business reopening, Expert tells FG

Philip Clement, Abuja

Nigerians have registered their worry and frustration over the continuous closure of banks across the country amidst the ongoing lockdown ordered by President Muhammadu Buhari.

This is coming even after the Federal Government through the Federal Ministry of Finance, Budget and National Planning secured exemption for sketchy operations of banks during the first lockdown order by President Buhari on March 29, 2020.

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In a statement jointly signed by the Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Zainab Ahmed and the Central Bank of Nigeria governor, Godwin Emefiele, it was announced that banks are allowed sketchy operations to accommodate citizens that may want to do huge transactions in the banking hall as well as resolve financial complaints during the lockdown.

However, many Nigerian banks both in the FCT and the 36 states across the country have been under lock and key for five weeks running, the Daily Times can authoritatively report.

The situation has been a reason for worry by many Nigerians especially at a time when there are controversies surrounding palliatives distribution and relief items not reaching the population it is expected to.

A Philanthropist, who pleaded anonymity, told the Daily Times that for the past 3 weeks, he has been trying to access cash from his bank, but to no avail.

“As you can see, many Nigerians who rely on daily pay now find it difficult to feed and the palliatives provided by government is not reaching one-third of the people it is expected to reach.

“Therefore, as part of my efforts to support government, I wanted to withdraw some cash from my bank so I can be able to order food items in large quantities from the northern part of the country.

“I can tell you that for the last three weeks, all my efforts have been in vain as all the bank branches I have visited so I can withdraw here in Abuja are under lock and key.

“Unfortunately, the money I need are in millions, so is it money from ATM that I will withdraw or that of PoS?” he lamented.

Another resident in Jabi district of the FCT, Esther Sunday, couldn’t hide her anger while speaking to the Daily Times.

According to her, she barely feeds well and resort to relying on neighbours to feed as her account has been blocked.

“I operate a student account which must not have an amount above N150, 000. But a day before the lockdown, I was sent money to withdraw and give someone, but unfortunately, the money sent added to the one in my account exceeded N150,000 so my account was blocked.

“After reading in the news that banks will be allowed to have sketchy operations, I was hoping that my bank (Guaranty Trust Bank GTB) will operate so I can go and resolve and unblock my account, but till date, I have visited three branches and they are shut down,” she said.

Sunday further stated that it is not fair for her to have money in her account and still beg for food, a situation which is attributed to lack of operations by banks.

Another bank customer in Kaduna, Kabiru Musa also expressed worry over the closure of banks and inability of banks to operate.

He told the Daily Times, that he banks with Access Bank (Formerly Diamond bank) whose branches in Kaduna metropolis remain closed.

“In my own case, my Automated Teller Machine (ATM) card expired and I applied for renewal and got debited immediately.

“Subsequently, I was supposed to get my card the week that Governor Nasir el-Rrufai ordered lockdown of the state which was strictly adhered to. Therefore I couldn’t get my card and so cannot withdraw from POS services,” he stated.

Musa further stated that his situation is now critical as the governor ordered another lockdown of the state for 30 days which is expected to expire around May 26.

In Lagos, a bank customer, Femi Kolade stated that due to the state being the epicenter of the virus in Nigeria, even bank staff are nowhere to be found.

“In Lagos State, we have the highest case of COVID-19 and the governor is working round the clock to ensure it is fought, therefore even bank staff are advised to work from home and it has caused more hardship for Nigerians who may want to do one or two transactions in the banking hall,” he said.

On the reason why many banks may not be operational under the lockdown, analysts believe that the era of ICT and digital innovations is probably the reason why many banks are not operating.

This is even as some bank staff are working from home to ensure smooth transactions in other digital platforms.

Similarly, in several emails seen by the Daily Times by some banks to their customers before the lockdown, they urged and encourage their customers to use their digital platforms to carry out their transactions for as long as the Lockdown directive will last.

This is a pointer to the fact banking transactions may no longer be feasible during the lockdown enforcement.

In another development, a financial expert, Dr. Vincent Nwani has urged the Federal Government to address the numerous uncertainties surrounding Nigerian businesses ahead of possible reopening from May 4.

According to him, many businesses have been closed for over 5 weeks which has led to lay offs and salary cuts.

“The lockdown will be eased off from Monday and we would see businesses in the food value chain, manufacturing and other essentials reopening. However, there are a lot of fears as as to whether business will remain as usual or not.

“Many business owners are even confused on what to do especially with regards to production and supply because they don’t know the direction of demand. As such the Presidential Task Force must come out and tell us how business operations will look like,” Nwani said.

The financial expert added that many businesses are weary of the uncertainties hovering around the business environment in post COVID-19 era and this is the time the Federal Government is expected to clear the air.

He, however, cautioned the government on reopening of non-essential businesses.

He said: “Businesses including sports betting, social gatherings, events planning, merriments, clubs and bars should remain shut for now because they encourage large gatherings of crowd”.

Consequently, Point of Sale (POS) vendors have been recording boom under the lockdown as they are now the alternatives which Nigerians run to to deposit and withdraw monies during the lockdown.

A vendor who spoke to the Daily Times but don’t want to be named said: “Normally I have few people daily coming to either take or send money, but since the lockdown imposed by the president in FCT, Ogun and Lagos, I have at least 50-100 people daily coming to my shop to do transactions and business is moving well.

“In fact, before I charge N100 per transaction between N5, 000 to N10, 000 but due to the volume of transaction and number of people coming, I have upgraded my charge to between N300-N500 and even higher considering the amount.

‘The lockdown period has really boosted my business as banks are no longer operational,” he said.

Another vendor, Chinedu Okeke also said that he is currently experiencing influx of people at his kiosk who come for different transactions.

“Sometimes the money I get from the ATM is not even enough atimes and I run out of cash, except I have more people that deposit than withdraw.

“Because of the customers I get since the lockdown began, I had to employ someone to assist me as I have been overwhelmed and can’t handle all transactions alone.

“The POS business now I can tell you is one of the most lucrative during this lockdown because business is doing well,” he added.

Earlier in the month, the Nigeria Interbank Settlement System (NIBSS) said that PoS transactions for first quarter exceeded the N1 trillion mark and expects exponential rise in transactions owing to the lockdown directives in place in virtually all the 36 states and 36 states.