From Victor Osula
To address the untold hardship bank customers are undergoing across the country over the new notes, the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, has directed banks to start paying the new notes across the counter.
This measure, the apex bank says, will remove the endless queues at Automated Teller Machines, ATMs being witnessed at all banks.
Director of the Corporate Communications department of the bank, Osita Nwanisobi said on Thursday that the governor of CBN, Godwin Emefiele, has directed deposit money banks to start over-the-counter payment of new notes to customers.
He said; “In line with this resolve, the governor, 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.
“We also admonish members of the public to embrace and adopt other payment channels for their transactions. The naira is our legal tender and symbol of national pride. Therefore, let us respect and handle it with care,” the statement said.
Pointing out that it had noticed 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 CBN spokesperson added that the reported cases of unregistered persons and non-bank officials swapping banknotes for members of the public, purportedly on behalf of the CBN, was illegal and actionable.
He further condemned the attitude of those he referred to as unpatriotic citizens subjecting the new notes to many forms of abuses and misuse: “The CBN has observed, with grave concern, the activities of persons who sell the newly redesigned banknotes and those who flagrantly abuse the legal tender by hurling wads of Naira notes in the air and stamping on the currency at social functions,” he said and added;
He cited sections of the law against this abuse such as Section 21(3) of the Central Bank of Nigeria Act 2007 (As amended) sand Section 21, (4), which respectively states that “spraying of, dancing or matching on the Naira or any note issued by the bank during social occasions or otherwise howsoever shall constitute an abuse and defacing of the Naira or such note and shall be punishable under the law by fines or imprisonment or both” and “It shall also be an offence punishable under Sub-section (1) of this section for any person to hawk, sell or otherwise trade in the Naira notes, coins or any other note issued by the Bank.”
He said the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) 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 practice.
