The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has imposed a N1 million penalty on commercial banks that refuse to select new naira notes to disburse to their customers before the January 31st deadline for old naira notes.
Adeleke Adelokun, Deputy Director of Research at the apex monetary authority, made this known on Friday during a sensitization programme for market women at Ayegbaju market in Osogbo, the capital of Osun.
Adeleke, while trying to intimate the market women with the redesigned currency, said;
CBN has printed enough new naira notes but we discovered that most of the banks have not collected the money. When we discovered that they refused to collect the new Naira notes we put sanction on the bank with a fine of 1million per box per day depending on the number of days.
We also mandated the banks to put new Naira Notes in the ATM machines all over Nigeria so that Nigerians will have access to the new Naira Notes.
Also, Madojemu Daphne, Branch Controller of CBN, Osogbo Branch, who was represented by Adebayo Omosolape, revealed that Nigerians hoarded old naira notes worth N2.7 trillion.
He stated that 84.71 percent of the country’s currency in circulation is not in commercial bank vaults across the country.