By ABDULLAHI MOHAMMED

The Jigawa government on Wednesday expressed concern over alleged low supply of new naira notes to Deposit Money Banks (DBMs) in the state.

The state Commissioner for Finance and Economic Development, Alhaji Babangida Gantsa, stated this at a news conference in Dutse.

He said the supply of the redesigned naira to most of the commercial banks by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) was grossly inadequate, thereby making it difficult for them to meet the demand of their customers.

Gantsa, who monitored transactions in some banks, said that most of the Automatic Teller Machines (ATM) were not dispensing cash to customers across the state.

“Some of the bank managers talked about their challenges, one of them claimed that he was only given N2 millions of new notes by the CBN today”.

The Commissioner said the situation had exposed residents of the state to difficulties in accessing the new bank notes.

“Some customers spent up to nine hours on queue while others claimed to have spent the whole night on queue.

“The distribution of the new notes was just a name in Jigawa but the reality is that bank customers were spending hours in anticipation of cashing at the ATM without any results,” he said.

The commissioner, therefore, urged the CBN to ensure adequate supply of the new notes to the banks or reschedule its deadline. (NAN)