Saliu Gbadamosi
Operatives of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), on Monday, arrested an Operations Manager of a leading commercial bank in the Central Area of Abuja for refusing to load the Automated Teller Machines (ATMs) of the bank despite having N29million of the redesigned Naira notes in the branch’s vaults.
This is even as the anti-corruption urged Nigerians unable to access the new Naira notes to report any suspected foul play by their banks to it for necessary action.
The commission’s spokesman, Wilson Uwujaren informed that before being whisked away for further questioning, the operatives ordered the loading of all the ATMs and the payment of the stipulated amount across the counter to the delight of the distraught customers who had spent hours in queues without getting the new notes.
The refusal to load the new Naira notes, Uwujaren stated was an act of sabotage of the government’s monetary policy by some banks.
According to the spokesman, “This discovery, which indicates a sabotage of the government’s monetary policy by some banks, was made by the EFCC in continuation of the ongoing surveillance and visit to banks across the country to access their vaults and verify whether they were deliberately refusing to dispense the redesigned Naira notes.
“More than five bank branches were covered today (Monday) by the operatives in Abuja. Similar exercises were ongoing in Zonal Commands across the country.”
He, however, assured that the operation would continue until normalcy is restored to the banking system.
The commission, therefore, appealed to Nigerians finding it difficult to access the new notes in their respective banks to report to it.
“Nigerians finding it difficult to access their funds at any bank and suspects foul play should contact the commission, for immediate intervention,” Uwujaren stated.
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