Residents of some communities and markets in the Illela Local Government Area of Sokoto State have begun to abandon the Nigerian currency for CFA franc because of the shortage of New Naira Notes, SaharaReporters has gathered.

Investigations showed that Illela, a border town with Niger Republic and of about 105 kilometres from Sokoto, capital city of Sokoto State, now has most of its traders and residents trading, selling and buying in CFA franc.

The Nigerian Central Bank, CBN had earlier set the deadline for the old N200, N500 and N1000 for January 31, 2023 but due to the scarcity of the new naira notes and its attendant effects on the economy, the apex bank extended the deadline for the exchange of old naira notes for newly designed ones till February 10.

A resident of Sabon-Gari, a town in Illela of Local Government Area, identified as Yusuf Sani revealed to SaharaReporters that he had changed all his Naira notes to CFA because of the difficulty in getting New Naira Notes in the region.

“I decided to have only CFA because people are not collecting Old Naira Notes again. The ATM does not even dispense. You can only get New Naira Note from POS, which is around N200 to N300 per N1,000.

“This is why it is safe to have CFA,” he explained.

According to Sani, it will be easier for him to spend the foreign currency because his town is close to some communities in the Niger Republic.

Abu, a trader at the ILLELA International Cattle Market, added that while it is not unusual to see some traders using CFA in the markets, most traders now exclusively use CFA due to the non-circulation of the New Naira Notes.

He said, “In this market, we have many people from neighbouring countries that come here to do business, particularly in cattle. So they bring foreign currency like CFA. But for the past few weeks, spending of Naira is now becoming difficult because no one is ready to collect the old Naira notes.”

Days ago, the Arewa Consultative Forum, the northern socio-cultural group, had urged the Nigerian government to prolong the deadline for the expiration and collection of old naira notes in the country.

In a statement issued by Bello Galadanci, Publicity Secretary, Arewa Consultative Forum, ACF, Kano State Chapter, the group had said the public was suffering greatly as a result of people's refusal to accept old naira notes in commercial transactions out of concern that they might not be able to deposit them in commercial banks.

The statement had read: “This has currently made life more difficult for ordinary citizens, because banks, up till now, still give out the old naira notes to customers with the deadline only a few days away.

“We appeal to the Federal Government to reconsider its decision by extending the deadline for the expiration of old naira notes to enable residents to swap their old naira with the new naira notes.”

inoki247:
Lol I talk am....

Mumu Govt with stupid policy's too much currency they outside nd politicians na him make economy dey upside down Naira wey dey outside reach Cefa wey dey outside still the Money na him strong pass for West Africa right now towards Dollar...

Naso dem lock border den say na neighboring countries dey make life hard for us till now we no see any changes instead na more problem we get Rice rate sky rocket, price of goods jump up Cefa high pass Naira....


One time dem say na NiN we du am we are still not immune to kidnapping....


Where this people dey get derr Policy's from I'm not sure is from this world....

The Next President even if he no see anything du like Jonathan make he sha dey emotional to the masses like him... him Govt is corrupt buh him Govt dey reason with the masses....


And I don't know how we got here it seems everything wey this Govt dey du we are all cool with no protest nothing nothing....

marlow1962:
Vote apc for another 8 years of hardship.

Any urchin wer go quote me, better akpala go strike you. Na u and hu wn die for suffering?🤬

JasonScoolari:
Quite unfortunate that everyone is suffering from the mistake of some miserable animals who enthroned a failure like Buhari out of religion, tribal, regional sentiments and to spite some other regions.

2days ago in my area here in Warri, a motor boy of one pure water company was left with swollen lips and broken nose because he was telling the woman who he went to supply water that he prefers Tinubu to be president... Some guys hearing what he said advised him not to repeat that statement again, but he was proving to be political sound.. The visibly frustrated guys had no option but to show him the Warri kind of "Love"

The driver had to quickly whisk him away to avoid a total onslaught.

We are tired of APC and their stupidity.

Vote Wisely.

Jack500:
Emefiele should be arrested and hang.

The worst CBN governor in history.

Wickedtruths:
Emefiele should be tried for treason and shot