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CBN moves to hammer commercial banks over failure to dispense new naira notes

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Henceforth, all commercial banks in Nigeria are to load the newly-designed naira notes into the Automated Teller Machines (ATM) or face sanctions from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), which has vowed to maintain the January 31 date for the complete withdrawal of the old notes in circulation.

At the last quarter of last year, the apex bank had announced the change of the designs and colours of the N200, N500 and N1000 denominations, alongside pegging the daily withdrawal of cash across the counter.

However, while readjusting the withdrawal policy which was limited to N100,000 weekly, to N500,000, due to pressure from many Nigerians including the National Assembly, the bank was silent on the redesigned currencies, even when the same NASS, in its resolution, demanded that the termination date be pushed to June, 2023.

The latest directive is coming against the complaints by bank customers and Nigerians in general of their inability to access the new notes, especially from the ATM machines, which has become quite popular with the ordinary people.

To underscore the need to comply with its directive, the bank last week, specifically ordered commercial banks to halt dispensing the new currency notes over the counter but to make them available only via ATMs.

The apex bank, through Ahmed Umar, Director, Currency Operations (DCO), at the training session for state directors of the National Orientation Agency (NOA), threatened to penalise commercial banks failing to comply with the directive, against the backdrop of reports that the new currencies were still scarce.

Restating that the the purpose of the CBN directive was to implement the January 31 deadline for the withdrawal of old naira notes in circulation, he said: “We want to use this training session to pass a message that CBN has enough currency notes to go round the general public.

“We, CBN management, have mandated banks to stop putting old notes in their ATM machines. They should only put the new notes. And there is a serialisation of the policy that they can put either N500, N1000 or N200 note whichever denomination they have or combination of any of those notes, they should just put a new note in their machines.

“We are going to monitor to ensure that the banks comply and if they don’t, we have a penalty for non-compliance. In our own case what we had was basically over 20 years of having the same design of note.

“Over that period, what it did to us was to create an avenue for some people to master the act of counterfeiting the note. In our own case, what we have is the minimum of 17 years or more for us to redesign our currency.

“If you notice the N1000 note that was introduced in 2005, it took 17 years for us to redesign it. N500 and N200 notes were also redesigned after 21 years and 22 years respectively. So, if currency notes stay too long in the system, there is a tendency that people who counterfeit make a lot of efforts to produce the same notes. So, that is why there is a need to change our notes regularly.”

Warning Nigerians about counterfeiting of the new currencies, said N500 and N1000 naira notes constitute 99 percent of the target by the fraudsters, adding: “It is simple logic, the effort you put to counterfeit N1000 is the same effort you put to counterfeit N5. So, why will they waste their energy doing small note; they always target the higher note particularly N1000, because of values attached to it.”

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Obi to Nigerians: Don’t be despaired, your mandate won’t be lost

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The Presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP), Peter Obi says he is aware of some evil designs against himself and his supporters in the coming months.

The former Anambra State governor disclosed this in a statement released on his verified Twitter handle on Monday, May 29, 2023.

The release of the statement coincided with the inauguration of Bola Tinubu of the All Progressives Congress (APC) as Nigeria’s President at the Eagle Square in Abuja.

 

I am aware of some evil designs being hatched against me and my supporters in the coming months. Efforts will be made to taint my image. Campaigns of calumny are being perfected to defame my character and diminish my hard-earned integrity.

— Peter Obi (@PeterObi) May 28, 2023

See full statement:

For all Nigerians, this is a time for deep reflection. It is also a time to re-examine our assumptions, even as we reaffirm our hopes. Let us calmly review our aspirations, in order to recalibrate our expectations and pin down the causes of our missed opportunities and disappointments.

We stand at that critical moment in time when, as a people, we must collectively come to grips with the reality of our injured destiny as well as the reasons for that injury. It is for us to reassess our plight as a young democracy and identify clear pathways to a better and greater future for us all. As we await the verdict of the election tribunal, I urge all Nigerians to use this opportunity to renew their commitment to the Nigerian ideal. That ideal remains noble and worth every sacrifice we can make.

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Nigeria remains our only patrimony and it is a patrimony we must protect, rather than violate. We have no other nation but this, so let us remain committed to rescuing and rebuilding it.

The judiciary is part of the democratic enterprise and a critical governance tool for determining the propriety of the decisions and actions of every citizen and every institution of state. To that extent, and for that reason, I urge everyone to treat it with the respect and dignity it deserves.

We expect that the Nigerian judiciary will use the election cases now before it to reaffirm its independence and integrity. It has to do so, for all our sakes and for itself.

Nigerians must, therefore, remain peaceful and law abiding. No matter the depth of anyone’s reservations about what is going on in the polity today, no matter the real and imagined provocations, and no matter the disagreement out there, we should remember that this will not last forever.

I remain committed, and untiring, in my determination to work with like-minded fellow Nigerians to end the curse of missed opportunities and squandered hope that has become our lot here.

I will never shrink from that original commitment, because I firmly believe that we must change from the present politics of criminality, and corruption, in order to make a new Nigeria possible.

I call on fellow Nigerians, especially the youths to remain steadfast, calm, patient, and peaceful. Our journey may be long and difficult but it is worth it in every way. Victory is assured.

We have to work together to move our beautiful country from corruption and criminality to a center of productivity rather than aimless consumption.

I am aware of some evil designs being hatched against me and my supporters in the coming months. Efforts will be made to taint my image. Campaigns of calumny are being perfected to defame my character and diminish my hard-earned integrity.

These schemes will aim at degrading our support base and confusing the public. But, no evil campaign will alter the substance of my character; nor diminish my patriotic commitment to a better Nigeria. It is about the future of our youths. it is about ending the Years of Locust.

In all of this, I thank Nigerians, our great party (LP) and the media. The latter, as the Fourth Estate of the realm, has remained a trusted ally.

This Estate must continue to guide our people on the immense promise of a future in a new Nigeria.

God bless Nigeria and protect the troops keeping us safe in this season of vaulting insecurity.

Long live the Federal Republic of Nigeria. –PO

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Tinubu will unveil Ministers in two months *He’ll be different – Faleke

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James Faleke, lawmaker and Secretary of the now defunct All Progressives Congress Presidential Campaign Council (APC-PCC), has revealed that President Bola Tinubu would unveil members of his cabinet within 60 days.

Channels Television, which quoted him as saying on Monday, at the inauguration of of Tinubu and Kashim Shettima as president and vice-president of Nigeria was underway at the Eagle Square in Abuja, said the President, would , unveil his cabinet as soon as possible.

Faleke, who promised that the new President would bring a different approach to power, was quoted as saying: “Of course, within 60 days, that’s what the law says. He can announce anytime but I just know he must do it within 60 days.”

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Tinubu: My stand on corruption, insecurity *How I’ll banish poverty in Nigeria

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Eradication of terrorism, waging war against corruption and battling the crippling poverty in Nigeria, would form the fulcrum of a new Nigeria President Bola Tinubu, says he would strive to put in place as his new government began hours ago after assuming the reins of power as the 16th President, after Muhammadu Buhari handed over to him at an elaborate ceremony at the Eagle Square, Abuja, on Monday.

Vowing to  defend Nigeria from all forms of terror, as well as end extreme poverty in the country, Tinubu, told Nigerians: “I will do that through job creation and food security and end to extreme poverty. I will ensure that corruption is tacked by strenghtening anti-corruption agencies.”

He also promised that his administration would discourage corruption through the introduction of a credit culture, stating: “Our government will continue to take proactive steps such as championing a credit culture to discourage corruption while strengthening the effectiveness and efficiency of the various anti-corruption agencies.”

It was also on a day the President, who had during his presidential campaigns, promised Nigerians that he would remove subsidy on petroleum products, made good his words by announcing suspension on them, adding that the era of payments on fuel was gone, as the 2023 Budget made no provision for fuel subsidy “and more so, subsidy payment is no longer justifiable.”

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