Residents of Ibadan, Oyo State, have once again, has to endure the nightmarish experience that occurred in February when the whole country suffered from Naira scarcity. What could be the cause of this new hardship?
Several POS operators in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital, have increased their transaction charges because of the Naira scarcity that has plagued the city within the last few days.
This was as majority of residents of the city had been lamenting the shortage of cash over the last few days.
Some of the affected areas include: Iwo Road, Ajibode, Mokola, Sango, University of Ibadan, Agodi Secretariat, Awotan, Bodija, Akobo and Apete respectively. The Point-of-Sale operators in these areas lacked enough cash to disburse to their prospective customers.
The operators with cash had, however, restricted the amount to be paid to customers even while the increased the transaction fee. An average Nigerian behaviour in the face of crisis.
The regular transaction charge which had been N100 per N5,000 withdrawal was increased to N150 or N200, depending on the customer’s bargaining prowess.
Some of the POS operators who spoke to DAILY POST confirmed that they have restricted customers to a maximum of N5,000.
An POS operator in Awotan, who pleaded to be anonymous had this to say: “I can only give you N3,000 for a transaction fee of N100. If a customer wishes to collect N5000, they’ll have to pay N150 or N200. There is no cash available this period.”