Politicians, Bureau De Change operators, businessmen, real estate financiers, traders and others are in a race against time to deposit their old naira notes to meet the January 31, 2023 deadline by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).
On October 26, the CBN announced its decision to redesign the naira.
It would be recalled that the CBN in October finalized arrangements for the new currency to begin circulation from December 15, 2022, after its launch by President Muhammadu Buhari.
The new and existing currencies shall remain legal tender and circulate together until January 31, 2023, when the existing currencies shall cease to be legal tender.
National Daily findings revealed that about N52bn had been deposited so far with banks since the announcement was made, and there are indications that the deposit sum may increase in the next few days because it is suspected that about N3 trillion cash was in circulation at the time the apex bank announced the policy.
According to a reliable source, who was armed with facts and figures, security and intelligence agencies have confirmed huge cash deposits of N52 billion in banks in less than two weeks.
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The source said some representatives of one of the agencies appeared before a Senate Committee on Tuesday in Abuja behind the curtains.
The source said: “As the cash was being taken to banks, we were getting the details of all the depositors and in some cases, we could trace the sources.
“As of Tuesday, over N52 billion cash has been deposited in various banks. Some of the deposits have been traced to some politicians, Bureau De Change operators, suspected money launderers, middlemen, drug barons, businessmen and traders.
“All the banks have been directed by the EFCC and other anti-graft agencies to keep records of cash depositors and their KYC. They are also mandated to make the list available when required.
Responding to a question, the source said: “Some politicians, governors and suspected fronts of Politically Exposed Persons (PEPs) have been on the radar of some anti-graft agencies.
“Some state governments cannot pay salaries because the corrupt table payment system they have adopted is not practicable with the CBN directive. Apart from redesigning the notes, the CBN is also complementing the anti-graft agenda of the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari.
“Nigerians have virtually abandoned the cashless economic policy for cash transactions. We may be on our way to addressing basic issues compounding our anti-corruption campaign as a nation.”
.CBN said as of the end of September, N2.73trillion out of the N3.23 trillion currencies in circulation was outside the vaults of commercial banks and supposedly held by the public.