CBN directs banks to pay new naira notes over the counter
The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has directed banks to start paying customers new naira notes over the counter with a maximum withdrawal limit of N20,000 per individual.
READ ALSO: CBN bows to pressure, extends use of old Naira notes till February 10
The order came amidst severe difficulties faced by Nigerians to withdraw cash via Automated Teller Machines (ATMs) across the country.
CBN Governor Godwin Emefiele gave the directive in a statement signed by CBN’s Director of Corporate Communication, Osita Nwanisobi, on Thursday.
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The statement explained that banks can only pay N20,000 of the new notes over the counter per day to individuals.
“CBN Governor, Mr 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”.
The apex bank urged Nigerians to exercise patience as the CBN is working assiduously to address the challenge of queues at ATMs and ensure effective distribution of the redesigned naira notes.
Nwanisiobi lamented the queues at ATMs across the country and attributed it to an upward trend in the cases of people stocking and aggregating the newly introduced banknotes.
“People serially obtain cash from ATMs for reasons best known to them. Also worrisome are the reported cases of unregistered persons and non-bank officials swapping banknotes for members of the public, purportedly on behalf of the CBN,” he said.
He, therefore, appealed to Nigerians to embrace and adopt other payment channels for their transactions and revealed that officials of the CBN and security agencies will go after people spraying and abusing the redesigned notes at social functions.
“It is unlawful and unpatriotic to sell the naira, spray, or stamp on it under any circumstance whatsoever.
“The CBN particularly frowned at those 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.
Nwanisiobi disclosed that 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”.
For emphasis, Nwanisiobi drew the attention of Nigerians to “Section 21(3) of the Central Bank of Nigeria Act 2007 (As amended) which stipulates that spraying of, dancing, or matching on the naira or any note issued by the Bank during social occasions or otherwise shall constitute abuse and defacing of the naira or such note and shall be punishable under the law by fines or imprisonment or both.”
He also quoted Section 21(4) which states that “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 CBN,”
Neptune Prime recalls that the CBN extended the dateline for the swapping of old naira notes with the redesigned ones to February 10 following complaints by Nigerians about the difficulty to access the newly introduced currency.
A few days to the dateline, Nigerians are faced with long queues at ATMs coupled with exorbitant charges by POS operators while trying to obtain the new notes.