The Coalition of Civil Society Groups has threatened to shut down commercial banks in Nigeria over their refusal to make the new naira notes available to the people. Speaking during a rally in Lagos over non-compliance of the banks to make the new N200, N500 and N1000 notes accessible to the people, the president of the group, Dr Etuk Williams Bassey, alleged that the banks had been sabotaging the efforts of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) by giving the monies to preferred customers rather than the masses who were in dire need of the new notes.
Bassey said: “We gathered here today to show our unalloyed solidarity to the CBN Governor and President Buhari on the new currency note policy that has come to stay. From the time of the introduction of the new naira notes, we have seen saboteurs working against the policy through several collaborative efforts to derail the entire process.
“We are grateful for the unreversed position taken by the CBN Governor with support from Mr President on the policy. It is on record that the last time we embarked on such a policy was 19 years ago and it can only be made possible with a determined leader as exemplified by the Governor of CBN with full support from Mr President. “While the generality of the people embraced the policy, we are shocked to note our ruling class and a section of the country opposing it and fighting it shamelessly without an iota of patriotism for the country.
