Nigeria’s Independent Corrupt Practices Commission (ICPC) said it discovered the sum of N258 million stashed in the vault at the Abuja regional head office of Sterling Bank Plc.
Disclosing this via Twitter on Tuesday evening, the ICPC assured that the Federal Government will continue to fight against naira hoarding.
Meanwhile, the anti-graft agency said that both the Regional and Service managers were arrested and later granted administrative bail while the investigation continues. Also, the Head of Operations at Keystone Bank in Nasarawa State was arrested for frustrating customers from getting the new naira notes.
Part of the statement by the ICPC said:
- “ICPC busts Bank discovers N258m, makes arrests as Operatives of ICPC last week Friday, discovered the sum of Two Hundred and Fifty-Eight Million Naira (N258m) stashed in the vault at the head office of Sterling Bank in Abuja.
- “This discovery followed one of the Commission’s operations at ensuring that commercial banks and other interest groups do not flout the apex bank’s directive. When the ICPC monitoring team visited the bank and discovered the stashed new Naira notes in the bank’s vault.
- “It was informed that the cash was the remnant of what the CBN had given the bank for onward distribution to its branches. The team however found out that only the sum of Five Million Naira (N5m) each was distributed to their various branches.”
Naira Redesign: ICPC busts Bank, Discovers N258m, Makes Arrests
Operatives of ICPC last week Friday, discovered the sum of Two Hundred and Fifty-Eight Million Naira (N258m) stashed in the vault at the head office of Sterling Bank in Abuja. pic.twitter.com/CmYyREmjNH
— ICPC Nigeria (@icpcnigeria) February 7, 2023
More details on this: The ICPC that the arrests were made after it investigated why the bank’s Automated Teller Machines (ATMs) were not dispensing cash to stranded customers.
- “The Commission has also effected the arrest of the Head of Operations, Keystone Bank, Mararaba in Nasarawa State for frustrating its customers at getting the new Naira notes. The ICPC team, while on its routine operation, found out that the Automated Teller Machines (ATMs) at the branch were not dispensing to its customers, while other bank customers were accessing only One Thousand Naira,” the ICPC said.
ICPC further noted that it was only after the arrest was made and clarification received from CBN that the position of the officers of the Bank was not correct and that the ATMs started dispensing Five Thousand Naira to non-customers and Ten Thousand Naira to its customers.
In case you missed it: Nigerians across the country have been going through a tough time trying to get cash since the CBN’s cash swap policy. The development has been widely condemned.
Just yesterday, the Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria (CIBN) yesterday called for calm and understanding from Nigerians amid the cash scarcity resulting from the naira redesign and cashless policy.
They added that stakeholders in the ecosystem are being engaged in addressing the unintended consequences of the naira policies.
