The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has challenged Nigerians to join the fight against hawking or selling of new naira notes at parties and other social gatherings by reporting to the apex bank, any deposit bank and its officials involved in the despicable new bank notes trade.

The CBN revealed there is an insider involvement in bank notes trade in the country, saying the hawkers or sellers won’t be in the illegal bank notes trade if there were no insider – suppliers from the deposit commercial banks.

The CBN head of Currency Operations and Branch Management, Paul Onuoha, who stated this on Thursday, in his remarks at the CBN Fair, held in Abeokuta, the Ogun State capital, advised the public to be vigilant and report any commercial bank and its officials supplying new naira notes to sellers/hawkers to the CBN or security agencies.

He said any bank caught aiding and abetting bank notes trade will be slammed with N150m fine without clemency, warning that if such illegality was traced to multiple branches of the same bank, the affected bank would pay N150m to extent of number of its branches involved.

Also speaking, Mrs. Hakama Sidi Ali, the Ag. Director, CBN Corporate Communications Department, said

the nation’s currency is an important national symbol which must be handled with the utmost care by Nigerians, insisting CBN would not allow anyone to spray, hawk, mutilate or counterfeit the Naira.

Ali said CBN has renewed its commitment towards ensuring availability of clean currency and Naira, urging Nigerians to see the Naira as a critical symbol of national unity that should be respected and kept it clean always.

“The CBN will continue to ensure availability of clean currency. We, however, urge you to see the Naira as our critical symbol of national identity. Respect and keep it clean. Do not spray, hawk, mutilate or counterfeit the Naira,” she stressed.

She explained that the CBN Fair with the theme, “Driving Alternative Payment Channels as Tools for Financial Inclusion, Growth and Accelerated Economic Development”, was carefully chosen to address the imperative of value addition and the links that catalyse SMEs and other economic activities to attain the much-needed price stability.

Mrs Sidi Ali added that the Fair is designed as a platform to interact with members of the public and critical stakeholders on the policies of the Central Bank of Nigeria for sustainable economic growth and development of Nigeria.

She pointed out that the management of CBN, under the leadership of Olayemi Cardoso, is committed to stimulating productivity and financial inclusiveness as well as delivering on its core mandate of monetary and price stability.

According to her, steps taken by the Cardoso-led management have resulted in a significant increase of inflow in foreign investments, positive trade balances and quantum leap in financial inclusion rate in recent times.

“Over the past twenty-two months, the Bank has, among others, rolled out the following functional policies to strengthen the financial system: Exchange rate unification to minimize arbitrage opportunities and reduce volatility in the foreign exchange market and cleared over 7 billion dollars of verified backlog of FX forwards; launch of Nigeria Foreign Exchange (FX) Code; Bank Recapitalisation to strengthen the resilience and global competitiveness of the banking sector; launched the non-resident BVN to connect Nigerians abroad with home, launched the Unified Complaints Tracking System (UCTS), among other policies,” she stated.

CBN Branch Controller, Abeokuta Branch, Malik Ololade, in his welcome address, said that the CBN Fair is one of the Bank’s major public enlightenment initiatives aimed at sensitising members of the public on the Bank’s policies, programmes, and interventions.

He added that it also serves as a platform to deepen financial literacy, promote transparency, and strengthen trust between the Bank and the Nigerian people.

“Over the years, the Fair has evolved into a veritable channel for fostering two-way communication between the Central Bank and the grassroots. It enables us not only to explain our policies but also to listen to your concerns, feedback, and expectations. This year’s event continues that tradition, and I encourage everyone here to actively participate in the discussions.

“As we navigate the evolving economic landscape – both globally and locally -the need for increased public awareness of monetary policy, financial inclusion, consumer protection, digital payments, and intervention programmes cannot be overemphasised. The CBN remains committed to ensuring a sound financial system and an inclusive economy where every Nigerian can thrive”, he stated.