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The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has warned that Point-of-Sale agents, who charge above N200 for cash swaps will, henceforth be arrested and jailed when caught.
The Apex Bank Governor, Godwin Emefiele, stated this during a visit to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to discuss the monetary and currency redesign policy.
According to Emefiele, shifting the February 10 deadline was needless, thus the date stands as earlier said.
He said: “The situation is substantially calming down since the commencement of over-the-counter payments to complement ATM disbursements and the use of super-agents.
“There is, therefore, no need to consider any shift from the deadline of February 10.”
It would be recalled that PoS agents had, since the naira scarcity began, charged as much as 25% of the intended withdrawal, thus making drawers receive a meager N7,500 for withdrawing as much as N10,000, thus making Nigerians believe they are buying their money instead of just withdrawing it.
The State Online had earlier reported that the Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF), the umbrella body of the entire 36 states governors, had, on February 11, tasked the Federal Government and the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to, as a matter of urgency, comply with last week’s interim injunction by the Supreme Court and the advice by the Council of State on cash swap policy before impending doom is wrath on the nation’s economy. But the FG and CBN appear unmoved and stood by their February 10 deadline for old notes validity.
Expressing displeasure that despite the assurance by the Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF) and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, that the Federal Government would comply with the Supreme Court’s ruling, the governors lamented that nothing has changed ever since then, a situation which has subjected Nigerians to untold hardship.
In a communiqué to maintain its stand at the end of their meeting held on February 11, the NGF said: “While we acknowledge the submission of the Attorney-General of the Federation that the Federal Government will comply with the ruling of the Supreme Court, which calls for the halting of CBN’s plan to end the use of the old currency notes, we are yet to observe changes in the financial system.
“Consequently, we call on the Federal Government and the CBN to respect the rule of law and listen to the voice of reason expressed by Nigerians and several other stakeholders, including the Council of State, before the damage to our economy becomes too great to fix by the next administration,” NGF further lamented./SHARE THIS
- Tags: CBN Gov Godwin Emefiele, PMB, Naira redesign policy