CBN sanctioned Sterling Bank and paraded bank officials for hoarding new naira notes in a viral video.
Ejes Gist News reports that officials of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) discovered N6 million of the new naira notes hoarded in the Ado Ekiti branch of Sterling Bank Plc on Bank Road in Ado Ekiti, Ekiti State after the bank had received the funds for more than two weeks.
In a viral video obtained by Ejes Gist News, a man identified as Oluwole Owoeye, a deputy director of the Central Bank of Nigeria, was seen questioning bank officials as to why they have not uploaded funds to their Automated Teller Machines (ATMs) despite having six of the machines in place.
The CBN director also announced a fine of N1 million per day that the funds were held by the bank.
The CBN official stated, “I am currently at Sterling Bank on Bank Road as part of the CBN’s compliance monitoring of the new naira notes.” They have collected N6 million from the bank for nearly two weeks but have not yet disbursed any of it. They stated that they have yet to configure their ATMs; I do not know why, and I have brought their attention to the penalty clause of N1 million per day; with five ATMs on-site, they have no reason to hold onto this money.
Black Market Dollar To Naira Exchange Rate Today 5th February 2023
“The zonal service manager, Tunde Onipede, promised that by 10:00 a.m. tomorrow (Monday) at the latest, because I told him that by 10:00 a.m. tomorrow (Monday) at the latest, I’ll be here and I want to see the machine dispensing this money.
“What is the name once more? Olumide Owolabi (Service Manager, Ado) & Motunrayo Babayele. My name is Oluwole Owoeye, and I serve as the CBN’s deputy director.
Some politicians have accused the CBN governor, Godwin Emefiele, of sabotaging the circulation of the new naira notes for political reasons. However, the CBN has accused commercial banks of sabotaging its efforts to make the new naira notes available to customers.
The deputy director of the banking supervision department at the Central Bank of Nigeria in Lagos, Kayode Makinde, told journalists in Abeokuta, Ogun State, on Tuesday of last week that the public should blame the commercial banks for the scarcity of the new notes, as the central bank had done its part.
Watch the Video here as CBN Parades Sterling Bank Officials For Hoarding New Naira Notes
“This is the third week of ensuring strict implementation of our directive regarding the issuance of new notes,” said a senior CBN employee. In the economy, banks, agents, and super agents circulate new currency. We observed individuals attempting to hoard new bills, compelled them to upload into ATMs, and observed others with poor cash management.
“From our experience, the CBN is not to blame for scarcity, but rather commercial banks.” Some of them were caught with new notes in their vault, and they were forced to upload them to their machines. Instead of attempting to ration, we instructed them to upload the ones they have and contact their central cash management unit, which has direct access to CBN.
“We discovered instances of sabotage on the part of operators; we will investigate and take appropriate action.”
One of them was found to be unable to account for nearly four million nairas in new currency, and they will be punished accordingly.
