House of Representatives member-elect for Ideato North, South federal constituency, Ikenga Ugochinyere of Imo state has commended the Governor of Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN Godwin Emefiele for complying with Supreme Court ruling which directed commercial banks and other financial institutions in the country to continue to accept and pay out the old N200, N500, and N1,000 notes till December 31, 2023.
CBN, had on Monday, directed all financial institutions to continue to accept and pay out the old N200, N500, and N1,000 notes till December 31, 2023, in line with the Apex Court ruling.
Hoarding new notes
Ugochinyere who’s also the Spokesman of Coalition of United Political Parties, CUPP in a statement on Tuesday while commending the CBN accused some bank Chief Executive Officers, managers of hoarding the new notes for political reasons.
He described as saddening, the long queues at the banks as people helplessly waited to withdraw money, while managers of banks were helping money-bag politicians to get the new notes.
While saying that it’s time for all sides to move on, the reps elect called for a probe of circumstances of hoarding of the new notes.
He said, “It’s commendable that the CBN in compliance with the rule of law directed deposit money banks operating in Nigeria to comply with the Supreme Court ruling of March 3, 2023, by accepting and pay out the old N200, N500, and N1,000 notes till December 31, 2023.
“Nigerian citizens are yearning for the best and should not be made to suffer more hardships, hence managers of banks who are found to hoard the new naira notes to create artificial scarcity.
He said banks and bankers should be investigated as they were being used by politicians who get new notes, set the public up against the CBN’s new policy.
Lateefah Ibrahim
