The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) says it is gravely concerned with the activities of persons who sell the newly redesigned banknotes and those who flagrantly abuse the legal tender by throwing them in the air and stamping on the currency at social functions
In a statement released on Thursday the apex bank said it was equally concerned by the queues at Automated Teller Machines (ATMs) across the country and an upward trend in the cases of people stocking and aggregating the newly introduced banknotes they serially obtain from ATMs for reasons best known to them.
The statement said it is also worried by the reported cases of unregistered persons and non-bank officials swapping banknotes for members of the public, purportedly on behalf of the CBN. adding that the Central Bank of Nigeria is collaborating with the Nigeria Police, Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU) to address the unpatriotic practices.
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The statement contained a warning to Nigerians, particularly those at social functions such as birthdays, weddings and funerals, to desist from disrespecting the Naira or risk being arrested by law enforcement agencies.
The Central Bank said it remains committed to ensuring the effective distribution of the newly introduced Naira banknotes, and urged members of the public to exercise patience as it is working assiduously to address the challenge of queues at ATMs and in line with this resolve, the apex bank’s Govenor, Godwin Emefiele has directed deposit money banks (DMBs) to commence the payment of the redesigned Naira notes over the counter, subject to a maximum daily payout limit of N20,000.
(Editor: Oloyede Oworu)
