Sokoto trader confirms adopting another country’s currency amid new Naira notes scarcity

Residents and traders in some Sokoto State communities are now transacting in foreign currency due to the scarcity of the New Naira Notes.

WITHIN NIGERIA reports that citizens across the country have been lamenting the difficulty in obtaining the newly redesigned naira notes following the Central Bank of Nigeria’s (CBN) deadline for the validity of the old N1000, N500, and N200 naira notes.

The apex bank had initially set the 31st of January 2023 as the deadline for accepting the old currency, but this was later extended to February 10th in response to a public outcry from Nigerians and various organizations.

Despite this progress, there is still a scarcity of new naira notes. Some sources, however, confirmed to journalists that some communities and markets in Sokoto State’s Illela Local Government Area have since resolved to conduct business in CFA francs.

It is understood that Illela is a border town with Niger Republic. Sokoto, the capital city of Sokoto State, is approximately 105 kilometers away.

To alleviate the stress caused by the new naira swap, most traders and residents have reportedly resolved to trade, sell, and buy in CFA francs.

Confirming the development to journalists, Yusuf Sani, a resident of Sabon-Gari, a town in Illela Local Government Area, said he had converted all his Naira notes to CFA due to the difficulty in obtaining 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, Sani told SaharaReporters.

The citizen explained that because his town is close to some communities in Niger Republic, he will find it easier to spend foreign currency.

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

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, the citizen said.