Commercial banks in Ilorin, the Kwara State capital, are rejecting old naira notes from customers despite an order of the Supreme Court.

Recall that the Supreme Court temporarily restrained the CBN from withdrawing and making the old currency notes of 200,500 and 1000 naira denominations obsolete till Wednesday, February 15, 2023, when the substantive suit on the matter filed by three Northern APC governors will be determined.

The CBN had earlier attempted to make the old naira notes obsolete from February 10, 2023, but the Court ruled otherwise.

As uncertainty surrounds the extension of the naira swap in the country, most businessmen and women, as well residents who thronged the commercial banks in Ilorin went home disappointed on Monday as the banks rejected the old naira notes they intended to deposit.

DAILY POST reports that a staff of a popular pharmaceutical store on Murtala Muhammed Road in Ilorin was directed to go to the Ilorin branch of the Central Bank to lodge the huge sum of money he brought to the bank.

Long queues were still visible in different banks as ATM machines failed to dispense the redesigned currencies, while tattered lower naira denominations were given across the counters to customers.

Bank customers expressed disappointment as they complained that they wasted valuable productive hours on the queue without getting the new naira notes as directed by the Central Bank.

Another frustrated customer lamented that apart from the disappointment met at the banks, operators of Point of Sale, PoS, who should have come to their rescue were not forthcoming, as they are also unable to get enough cash from the banks.

Findings further revealed that while most operators of Point of Sale have closed down, the few ones still in business are having a field day imposing charges between N100 and N150 for N1,000 cash withdrawal and N1,000 or N2,000 for N10,000 withdrawal.

Cash transfer from N5,000 to N10,000 and above also attracts charges between N500 and above depending on the PoS operator.