At least three banks were torched on Monday as protest over scarcity of new naira notes rocked the Sagamu area of Ogun State.
The development is coming on the heels of insistence by the state governor, Dapo Abiodun, on Friday that the old N500 and N1000 remained legal tender in the state, threatening to sanction commercial banks and business outlets rejecting the old notes.
The police spokesperson in the state, Abimbola Oyeyemi, confirmed the development in a telephone chat with Channels Television.
According to him, Union Bank, First Bank and Keystone Bank branches were attacked by protesters on Monday.
He, however, said policemen have been deployed to the area to quell the situation.
“We are in Sagamu now. The place is seriously burning,” Oyeyemi said. “They attacked Union Bank and First Bank as well as Keystone Bank. We are there right now.”
Similar protests broke out across states in Nigeria amid scarcity of new naira notes and petrol.
Banks and Automated Teller Machines (ATMs) were vandalised by aggrieved citizens whose moneys are trapped in the banking system.
President Muhammadu Buhari last Thursday banned old N500 and N1,000 notes and extended the validity of old N200 notes till April 10, 2023 but at least 10 governors have approached the Supreme Court to step aside the directive of the President in the case set to hear on February 22.
The cash crunch and consequent riots come just a few days to the February 25 Presidential and National Assembly elections, spreading fears about the safety of voters on Saturday but the police and other security agencies have assured citizens of maximum safety amid the polls.
Governor Abiodun has begun the distribution of old naira notes to his supporters in Ogun State, in an effort to garner more public support for the fast-approaching general election, amidst allegations that he and other politicians had stocked up notes to induce voters.
In a video seen by metrobusinessnews.com on Channels Television on Monday, agents of Abiodun could be seen sharing the old notes in envelopes branded with the governor’s picture, convincing the supporters that the notes remain legal tenders contrary to the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) policy.
“These notes remain legal tender, the governor will come back for an enforcement if banks reject them,” his agent seen telling supporters who tried to protest the validity of the notes.
Governor Abiodun has begun the distribution of old naira notes to his supporters in Ogun State, in an effort to garner more public support for the fast-approaching general election, amidst allegations that he and other politicians had stocked up notes to induce voters.
In a video seen by metrobusinessnews.com on Channels Television on Monday, agents of Abiodun could be seen sharing the old notes in envelopes branded with the governor’s picture, convincing the supporters that the notes remain legal tenders contrary to the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) policy.
“These notes remain legal tender, the governor will come back for an enforcement if banks reject them,” his agent seen telling supporters who tried to protest the validity of the notes.
Abiodun alongside his Lagos and Kaduna counterparts and several other state governors have maintained an undaunting opposition to the directive of the presidency and the CBN on the validity of old notes.
The governors have insisted that the old notes should remain legal tender until the Supreme Court makes a definitive pronouncement on the matter which was earlier adjourned to February 22.
The 10 governors who oppose the president’s directive also approached the apex court over the weekend, seeking to obtain a pronouncement that President Muhammadu Buhari and the CBN’s insistence on taking the N1000 and N500 notes out of circulation violate an earlier ruling of the court ordering all parties to maintain status quo.
Political analysts are not united in their perspectives of the situation. While some see the most recent suit against the federal government and the CBN as putting democracy to test, others see it as sheer political selfishness, accusing Governor Abiodun and his colleagues of seeking a free reign of political lawlessness and electoral malpractices during the elections.
The APC governors challenging the federal government have been accused of opposing the CBN policy so as to be able to spend the cash they already have stored for the purpose of influencing the election.
The ruling party also had an emergency meeting over the weekend, called by its chairman,
Senator Abdullahi Adamu, where it was resolved to appeal to President Muhammadu Buhari to intervene in the crisis.
