The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) may have concluded plans to collaborate with the Ministry of Justice and other government agencies to establish mobile courts that will prosecute currency hawkers and those in the habit of defacing and spraying the nation’s currency at events. This was made known to the media by the Chief Executive Officer of FSDH Merchant Bank Limited, Ms. Hamda Ambah.
Ambah who spoke after the Bankers’ Committee meeting said, “We are going to be disseminating information on the right way to handle the naira so that people do not handle the money incorrectly. Specifically, one of the things we are frowning on and action is to be taken on people who sell the currency. In the near future, there is going to be an introduction of mobile court to handle such situation and those caught would be dealt with on the spot.”
CBN’s Director, Corporate Communications, Mr. Isaac Okorafor, who threw more light on the proposed CBN mobile court said the CBN Act 2017 outlaws any action by anyone who sprays, squeezes, dances on or writes on the Nigerian currency. He said, “That Act makes it possible to give six months imprisonment or a fine of N50, 000 or both the fine and imprisonment. We are collaborating with every agency of government, the Ministry of Justice, the judiciary and the Nigeria Police and we would insist that those who abuse the naira are punished.”
Also speaking during the media briefing, the Chief Executive Officer, Access Bank Plc, Mr. Herbert Wigwe, said the committee deliberated on the real sector and ways to continue to pursue growth in the real sector. He said, “It was resolved at the Bankers’ Committee that discretionary Cash Reserve Requirement (CRR) that has been built over time should be channeled towards agriculture in a very impactful manner. The deliberations were that most of the monies should also be channeled towards the manufacturing sector so basically looking at the entire value chain of the manufacturing sector.”
CBN’s Director, Banking Supervision, Mr. Ahmad Abdullahi, in his own contribution disclosed that the committee noted the challenges the economy is facing and appealed that all hands should be on the deck and work together to ensure that the slowdown in Nigeria’s economic growth is reversed.
