Kano Govt Shuts Supermarket For Rejecting Old Naira Notes

Governor Abdullahi Gandjue of Kano State on Sunday, directed the acting Chairman of the Kano State Consumer Protection Council, Dr Baffa Babba Dan’agundi, to shut down Wellcare Supermarket after the management refused to accept old naira notes from customers.

The Chairman of the council made the disclosure shortly after shutting down the supermarket, stating that legal action would be taken against its management.

The governor, a supporter of a “professional implementation” of the naira redesign policy, had held discussions with the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN); bank managers, security heads, and traditional leaders to find ways to alleviate the difficulties faced by the public.

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The CBN had extended the deadline for the swap of old N200, N500 and N1,000 from January 31 to February 10 but the Supreme Court held that the Federal Government, the CBN, commercial banks must not continue with the deadline pending the determination of a notice in respect of the issue on February 15.

Meanwhile, the management of Wellcare Alliance Limited has forwarded an apology letter to Governor Ganduje, seeking his immediate intervention to re-open the supermarket.

The letter was titled, “A plea for an immediate intervention to re-open Wellcare Alliance Limited and an apology letter.”

“Sir, Wellcare has always had an outstanding reputation in the market within the state and beyond, equally has abided by every rules and regulation which directly affects the company or a regulator without hesitation.

“Due to the Federal Government’s policy on the new naira notes, we gave wrong instructions to our staff members that from February 10, 2023, only the new notes are to be in circulation, and on an expansive investigation with our bankers, they declined to receive old naira notes,” the letter partly read.

“our business should be re-opened for deserving members of the public as we undertake to receive the old notes as valid tender to when the state issues any other directive.”