The Central Bank of Nigeria has reacted to a voice note said to be circulating, indicating that it wants to shutt down some deposit banks over naira scarcity.
The apex bank’s Director, Corporate Communications, Osita Nwanisobi, in a statement, stated that there was no such plan, noting that the claims were illogical and did not comply with the workings of the Nigerian banking system.
The bank is, however, silent on the order by the Supreme Court, which ordered that the old naira be in use till February 15.
Nwanisobi said, “The attention of the CBN has been drawn to a misleading report misquoting the Governor, Godwin Emefiele, as attributing the current challenge in the distribution of the newly redesigned naira banknotes to a shortage of printing materials at the Nigerian Security Printing and Minting Company Plc.
“We wish to state categorically that at no time did the CBN Governor disclose this during his presentation to the National Council of State at its meeting on Friday, February 10, 2023.
“For the records, what Emefiele told the meeting was that the NSPMC was working on printing all denominations of the naira to meet the transaction needs of Nigerian.
“Similarly, there is a misleading voice note trending in social media alleging that the CBN planned to shut down some banks, particularly in a particular geo-political region of the country.
“We wish to state unequivocally that there is no such plan and that the claims are illogical and do not comply with the workings of the Nigerian banking system. The public is therefore advised to ignore such recordings as they do not represent the policy thrust of the CBN and are only the desperate attempts of persons bent on inciting the public against the Bank.
“We wish to state unequivocally that there is no such plan and that the claims are illogical and do not comply with the workings of the Nigerian banking system. The public is therefore advised to ignore such recordings as they do not represent the policy thrust of the CBN and are only the desperate attempts of persons bent on inciting the public against the Bank.”
