The Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria Godwin Emefiele has accused commercial banks of breaching agreement for issuance of new currency notes.
Emefiele made the accusation when he appeared before the House of Representatives special Ad-hoc committee at the National Assembly.
Emefiele stated that most of the currencies were in packs and in the hands of few Nigerians instead of the directive of dispensing through the Automated Teller Machine ATM.
He maintained that the new policy was for the good of Nigerians and the nation’s economy, stating that monetary policies are Hallmark of a good apex bank.
According to him, the CBN policy states that there must be redesign of the naira every five years, adding that the last redesign was 19 years ago.
Emefiele added that the Apex bank would still collect old naira notes after the deadline but cannot use them as legal tender.
Earlier, the Chairman of the Ad-hoc Committee Alhassan Ado-Doguwa told the CBN governor that the essence of the meeting was to address some concerns by Nigerians and the nation’s economy.
The mover of the motion Mr Sada Soli APC Katsina State and other members questioned the scarcity of the new naira notes over the counter as well as ATM withdrawal directives by the CBN.
The meeting was thereafter adjourned as the CBN governor promised to look into most of the issues raised by the Lawmakers.
RN