A coalition of civil society organisations has urged the Central Bank of Nigeria to publish details of the amount of the redesigned naira notes disbursed to commercial banks.

The coalition, comprising no fewer than 38 CSOs, included the Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre, Say no Campaign, Centre for Democracy and Development (CDD), and Connected Development Budget, among others, made the call at a news conference on the state of the nation in Abuja.

“The CBN governor, Godwin Emefiele, has said the billions of the redesigned notes disbursed to the commercial banks have been mopped up by some corrupt politicians,” they stated. “To safeguard our democracy and protect the working and living conditions of our people, we call on the federal government to put in place measures to ensure that the suffering of the Nigerian people is eliminated and make citizens have access to cash.”

While briefing the diplomatic community on recent monetary policy decisions of the CBN on February 15, Mr Emefiele accused some politicians of hoarding the new banknotes.

The CBN governor blamed politicians for the naira scarcity, accusing them of mopping the new notes.

The CSOs expressed concern over the crackdown on protesters, adding that the protest culture should be respected in a democracy, as it is the people’s voice.

”The federal government has alleged that some people were keeping billions of old naira notes in well-known places. The government should direct security and anti-graft agencies to remove the money allegedly kept in the homes and offices of a few people,” the coalition said. “After all, operatives of the State Security Service invaded the residences of alleged corrupt judges in October 2016 and carted away thousands of dollars and millions of naira.”

The representatives of the CSOs at the conference included Auwal Rafsanjani, executive director of CISLAC, Tobi Okuwatoba, head of CJID, Ibrahim Zikirullahi, CEO of CHRICED, and Jaye Kaskiya, among others. 

(NAN)