Commuters in Ibadan were on Wednesday stranded, as commercial drivers, motorcyclists and tricyclists refused to accept old naira notes.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports the situation forced some commuters to resort to trekking long distances to their respective destinations, while those who could not trek simply returned home.
NAN observed that the roads in some areas within the metropolis like Omi-Adio, Apata, Challenge and Mokola roundabout were deserted, as only a few commercial drivers collected the old naira notes.
NAN also reports that the situation was further compounded by the protests that rocked some parts of the state capital over the scarcity of fuel and new naira notes.
A commercial bus driver Mr Mukaila Akanbi said that he refused to collect old naira notes because filling stations were rejecting old notes from him.
“If I collect old naira notes, how do I spend it? Unfortunately, most banks are not opening for business,” he said.
A trader, Mrs Alice Adebola who boarded a bus and paid with an old naira note, said that the money was rejected by the driver.
She appealed to the government to provide enough new naira notes before the situation got out of control.
“Honestly, I don’t know what to do now. I took my wares to the market but old notes were being given to me. If I reject it, I will not sell it and be able to feed my family; if I accept it, nobody will collect it from me.
A bean seller, Mallam Kabir Mohammed, who had many people milling around him for accepting old naira notes, however, said he decided to do so as a strategy to sell his wares.
“I decided to collect old naira notes with the hope of selling my wares, restocking and reselling again,” he said.
Mohammed urged the government to save the situation by making new naira notes available or, in the alternative, allowing old notes to be accepted as legal tender to bridge the supply gap.
