Adeleke tells CBN to sanction banks hoarding new Naira

Warns against disregarding people’s patience

Governor Ademola Adeleke of Osun State has asked the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to sanction financial institutions hoarding the new Naira and ensure they are made available to the people.

Disclosing that the state had been sacrificing so much to calm frayed nerves, he warned CBN against taking the patience of Osun people for granted. He made these remarks while addressing CBN officials in his office, yesterday.

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 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.

He told the apex bank officials: “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 for this meeting. Why are the new notes not available? Is the supply small or inadequate?” He expressed his government’s readiness to partner CBN for the currency swap.

“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,” Adeleke admonished.

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 aware of the day the Governor stopped some angry youth from demonstrating and from 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.