By Asmau Ahmad
Long queues at commercial banks in Nigeria have suddenly disappeared following the injection of more bank notes by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) into commercial banks.
The apex bank had on Thursday confirmed the evacuation of bank notes from its vaults to commercial banks across the country as part of a coordinated effort to ease the circulation of the banknotes of various denominations.
The bank also directed all commercial banks to open for operations on Saturdays and Sundays.
The apex bank said that a substantial amount of money, in various denominations, had been received by the commercial banks for onward circulation to their respective customers.
The CBN had directed all banks to load their Automated Teller Machines (ATMs) as well as conduct physical operations in the banking halls through the weekends.
Meanwhile, a correspondent of NAN who monitored some of the banks in Lagos State to check compliance, reported that the long queues drastically reduced, not all bank ATMs dispensed and banks only paid customers who are account holders in their banks.
The banks visited along Ajao Estate Road in Oshodi –Isolo and Alimosho local government areas are Guarantee TrustHolding Company (GTCO), Keystone Bank, First City Monument Bank, Zenith Bank, Firstbank, United Bank for Africa, Globus bank, Polaris Bank and Union Bank.
NAN also reports that banks who paid their customers had limits to what they pay, which ranges from N5,000, N10,000 and N20,000.
Some banks paid N10,000 to their customers, N5,000 to non-customers and others only to bank customers.
An official at one of the banks which pays N20,000 to its customers, told NAN that for a customer to be paid the amount, the person must put his or her BVN down with a thumb print to ensure that they do not withdraw above the specified limit.
