Sale of new notes to hawkers: Senate wants CBN to investigate commercial banks
The Senate has condemned the hawking of, selling and otherwise illegal trading in new Naira notes, coins or any notes issued by the Central Bank of Nigeria.
The Senate in accordance with its resolutions has therefore urged the CBN to as a matter of urgency, ensure compliance with the provisions of Section 21 of the CBN Act, 2007.
It also mandated the CBN to strengthen its system that audits the process of collation, processing and disposing of defaced and mutilated notes, while urging it to also investigate the allegation that commercial bank officials do in fact sell new Naira notes to illegal peddlers.
This followed a motion on Tuesday by Senator Mao Ohuabunwa (PDP Abia North) on the urgent need to end illicit trade in freshly minted Naira notes.
Ohuabunwa in his motion noted that every country’s currency is a national treasure deserving of a level of dignity, and Nigeria Naira is not an exception. He stressed that a throughout the country, spanning from Sokoto, Kano Enugu, Port Harcourt and even the FCT, a huge illicit industry has been built around trading on freshly minted Naira notes by certain individuals who engage in the touting and hawking of the nation’s treasure and legal tender.
Ohuabunwa also observed that at popular motor parks like Ojota Park along Lagos – Ikorodu expressway and bus stops like Dei Dei pedestrian in Abuja and many similar spots in the nation, “new naira note peddlers are seen boldly hawking their wares as if these were ordinary goods.
While some of these illicit money sellers attract people by the road sides, others sit beneath umbrellas with bags full of crispy naira notes at their feet, where customers gather to transact within the confines of their vehicles, just like in any other consumer good.”
“The Naira peddlers also lurk around weddings and other social events where they showcase well bound Naira notes which they sell to individuals to fuel a culture of extravagance and disgrace of our Naira treasure- through spraying of same on friends and well wishers an act that further subjects the Naira to other forms of abuse such as mutilation, folding and other forms of unwarranted misuse”.
Ohuabunwa stated further that the hawkers dealing on the illicit trade in Naira , focus on the denominations of N5, N10, N20 ,N50 and N100 notes, and through that encourage the persistent scarcity of new notes in these denominations, while making huge spreads of above N250 on every N1000 notes sold.
