Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) officials led by the director of the Internal Audit Department, Mrs Lydia Alfa Ifeyinchukwu, have begun the monitoring of commercial banks on the dispensing of new naira notes with a view to sanctioning defaulting banks in Adamawa State.
The officials during the exercise, checked Automated Teller Machines (ATMs) and expressed satisfaction with the level of compliance by the banks.
Earlier, the CBN officials sensitised stakeholders on the currency redesign at Jimeta market, and told traders that there is no limit to how much customers can deposit between now and January 31, 2023 as the bank has suspended bank charges.
Ifeyinchukwu advised members of the public to ensure that they deposit cash holdings on those denominations at their commercial banks.
She told traders to accept the new notes, use and respect the notes as national symbols.
The public was encouraged to explore other payment channels, such as e-Naira, Point of Sale (PoS) electronic transfer, USSD, internet banking, and mobile money operators and agents for their economic activities.
“The benefits of the currency redesign to the Nigerian economy include, the policy would help control inflation, as the exercise would bring the hoarded currency into the banking system,” she said.
The Adamawa branch controller of the apex bank, Mr Sanusi Sah Nyashi, revealed that, any erring bank would be sanctioned.
He directed commercial banks to commence Saturday banking to ease the problems associated with changing of the new notes ahead of the January 31 deadline.
Chairman of Traders Union Jimeta Central Market, Alhaji Musa Yaro, urged CBN officials to make available N10, N20 and N100 notes to facilitate business transactions in the state.
The state director of National Orientation Agency (NOA) appealed to CBN officials to look into the plight of customers without accounts and wanted to change their money in good time.