Husband Couldn't Make Payment: Tears as Heavily Pregnant Woman Dies Over Naira Notes Scarcity

• The CBN's naira redesign policy which has led to the scarcity of cash has cost a pregnant woman in Kaduna state her life
• James Auta, the deceased’s husband, allegedly said his wife was rejected by the hospital when he could not make a payment due to failure to access cash
• The Supreme Court recently averted what could have triggered a nationwide rage when it restrained the CBN from enforcing the February 10 deadline for the old Naira notes swap

Kajuru LGA, Kaduna state - The scarcity of Naira notes in Nigeria has begun to affect the healthcare sector as a heavily pregnant woman died due to the inability to make payment and access treatment.

According to Daily Trust, the woman who was a resident of Kasuwan Magani, Kajuru local government area of Kaduna state, lost her life due to the unavailability of the new naira notes in banks.

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James Auta, the deceased’s husband, was reported to have said his wife was rejected by the hospital when he could not make the payment due to failure to access cash in his bank and Point of Sale (POS) channels.

The incident happened in early February after Auta’s wife went into labour but was rejected, simply because her husband couldn’t make a payment due to naira scarcity.

It was gathered that the woman died at home after giving birth but continued to bleed.

The incident reportedly caused concerns across the state as patients and their family members found it difficult to make payments to access treatments due to the naira shortage.

CBN and the Naira scarcity

After introducing new N200, N500 and N1,000 notes, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) announced January 31 deadline for the phasing out of the old versions.

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Naira scarcity: Top northern governor orders arrest of anyone rejecting old notes in his state

However, the deadline was extended to Friday, February 10, due to the inability of millions of Nigerians to access the new notes.

As the situation failed to improve, the Supreme Court subsequently gave an order restraining the CBN from enforcing the February 10 deadline.

The apex bank gave the order pending the hearing of a lawsuit brought by three northern states challenging the new currency redesign. It adjourned that hearing until Wednesday, February 15.

FG speaks on Supreme Court ruling on old Naira notes swap deadline

Meanwhile, Abubakar Malami, the Attorney General of the Federation (AGF) and Minister of Justice said the federal government would obey the Supreme Court ruling which put on hold the CBN's February 10 deadline for the old Naira notes swap.

Malami, however, said the federal government would take necessary steps to set aside the interim order.

Speaking further, the minister said the federal government will respect the order of the Supreme Court because of its regard for the rule of law.

Source: Legit.ng