It was complaints galore at the popular Oko Market at Abraka in Delta state yesterday as traders charged the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to checkmate the activities of commercial banks over hoarding of the new money.
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They said the integrity of the apex bank which lies in the efficacy of the currency, has come under attacks over the scarcity of the new notes.
They told the Director BKSD, Abuja, Mr Sam Okojere and his team, flanked by the CBN Asaba Branch Controller, Mr Godwin Ikechukwu Okafor, and Mrs Elizabeth Amrovhe of the Currency Redesign Department, that the commercial banks have not been good ambassadors in propagating the new notes.
A sole proprietor, Mrs Betty Okonkwo wondered why banks were accepting and still paying out the old naira notes despite the deadline warning alerts by CBN.
The Branch Controller who said 84.4 per cent of the old naira notes have been outside the banking system, lamented the Nigerian factor that has led to the hoarding of the new notes. He said, “the hoarding of the new naira notes is criminal because it prevents the economy of the country from running efficiently.
It is an economic sabotage. The notes were redesigned to check inflation, corruption and money laundering, and ease financial transactions. We expect people to love, accept, use and cherish as legal tender and their national identify. It is not to be hoarded.” He said commercial banks have been warned against dispensing old naira notes through their ATMs, and that any bank caught violating the order would be sanctioned.
He displayed and shared original new naira notes to the traders, who we mainly Northerners, for proper identification and usage. Okojere urged them to be proud of the new notes as that was the practice across the world.
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