The Central Bank of Nigeria {CBN} will soon move against hawkers of the Naira, especially those who exchange new currency notes for old ones at motor parks or parties and other social functions. This plan was revealed in Ibadan during a presentation by former CBN director, Abubakar Sadiq and the legal adviser, Prince Anthony Olutujoye at a forum organ-ised by the bank.
They stressed the need for security agencies to move against Naira hawkers because it is illegal to hawk the currency
They however noted that the country lacks a legislation on spraying of the Naira at parties even though it is ethically wrong to do so.
According to the legal adviser, this is one of the reasons why the apex bank is pushing for its bill presently at the National Assembly to ensure that individuals who mutilate the currency can be brought to book.
The former director poi-nted out that although they facilitate access to new notes, the trade in itself is an encouragement of corruption.
He urged the CBN to investigate the hawkers’ access to new notes with a view to checking the phenomenon before it becomes a great problem. He wondered why the police have allowed the hawkers to operate freely in disregard of the law.