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Adeleke urges CBN to sanction banks hoarding new Naira notes
Governor Ademola Adeleke of Osun State has urged the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to sanction financial institutions hoarding the new Naira notes and ensure they are made available to the people.
Noting that the state had been sacrificing so much to calm frayed nerves, Adeleke warned CBN against taking the patience of the people of Osun for granted. He made these remarks while addressing CBN officials in his office, on Monday.
In a statement signed by his spokesperson, Olawale Rasheed, the governor decried the increasing shortage of the new notes, explaining that he had been deploying the state’s network to douse tension and ensure the safety of banks and the CBN office in the state.
Adeleke said his intervention in the last few weeks saved Osun from the crises witnessed across some South West states, expressing unhappiness at the current hardship visited on the people.
In his words, “The situation is getting out of hand. The CBN must act fast. Any bank hoarding the new notes must be sanctioned. We should not treat such banks with kid gloves.
“My people are patient, but we should not take their patience for granted. That is why I called this meeting. Why are the new notes not available? Is the supply small or inadequate?”
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“The new notes are not available. Even as a state governor, I don’t have the new notes. We should not overstretch the cooperation we are enjoying from the citizenry. We are expected, as elected and appointed leaders, to respond to the needs and aspirations of our people.”
Responding, the CBN director in the state, Oluyemi Adeyemi, commended the governor for his proactive steps that saved the state from Naira-related riots.
“We must thank the Governor for reaching out to the people, for diffusing tension, for keeping the state peaceful. We are aware of the day the Governor stopped some angry youth from demonstrating and attacking the CBN office.
“On our part, we are working hard to make the new notes available. Let me say that the CBN has issued queries to some banks. I assure Nigerians that we are working hard to make the new notes available,” the CBN official stated.
The meeting set up a monitoring mechanism between the state government and the CBN to ensure that allocated new notes got to the populace.
