The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) recently directed all commercial banks to open on weekends from February 25 to dispense cash to customers.

The apex bank instructed deposit banks to permit over-the-counter withdrawals during the weekend and load their automated teller machines (ATMs) with cash to mitigate the cash scarcity plaguing the country.

FIJ monitored some banks on the first weekend of full banking activities and found that most failed to comply with the directive.

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Between Ikotun and Iyana-Ipaja, FIJ found only a few bank branches with operating ATMs.

An Access Bank branch close to the Egbeda area of Lagos blocked cash withdrawals on its ATMs. When this reporter attempted to make a withdrawal on Saturday, the cash options were blocked on the system.

Customers claimed that the ATMs only permitted cash withdrawals with Access Bank debit cards.

Opposite the Access Bank branch was a Guaranty Trust Bank (GTB) branch teeming with a crowd of customers. “We are waiting for cash,” a female customer told FIJ.

FIJ counted more than three-dozen customers seated on the steps of the bank’s entrance. When this reporter asked the customers how long they had waited for the bank to provide cash, they said that they had been waiting for a couple of hours.

It was the same situation when FIJ visited the bank on Sunday. One of the bank’s workers said the GTB branch had been expecting cash since the previous day. FIJ’s reporter saw a few faces from Saturday waiting for a cash withdrawal at the bank branch on Sunday morning.

The closest banks providing cash withdrawals were a Sterling Bank branch and a Fidelity Bank branch in Isheri, along Ikotun road.

While the Sterling Bank branch in Isheri allowed over-the-counter withdrawals and refused to load its ATMs, the Fidelity Bank had an overcrowded ATM gallery on Saturday.

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On Sunday, the Sterling Bank and Fidelity Bank branches were empty. Only one bank had its ATMs open to customers for cash withdrawals at Ikotun Bus Stop. The Access Bank branch in Ikotun had a queue that extended to the main road.

“I have been here for over 30 minutes and more people keep joining the queue. I’m not sure if the money [in the ATMs] will be enough for all of us,” a man in the queue told FIJ.

There were about 10 bank branches close to Ikotun Bus Stop alone, but only the Access Bank branch had cash in its ATMs when FIJ visited on Saturday afternoon.