Central Bank of Nigeria

By Abdurrahman Muhammad

The Central Bank of Nigeria’s financial policy and regulation director, Haruna Mustapha, announced in a circular on Friday.

The central bank has issued guidelines and regulations for banks on managing cryptocurrency in accordance with global standards to prevent misuse. They also urge banks to comply with these guidelines and regulations.

See the full statement below: 

FPR/DIR/PUB/CIR/002/003

CIRCULAR TO ALL BANKS AND OTHER FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS

GUIDELINES ON OPERATIONS OF BANK ACCOUNTS FOR VIRTUAL ASSETS SERVICE PROVIDERS (VASPs)

The CBN in February 2021 issued a circular restricting banks and other financial institutions from operating accounts for cryptocurrency service providers in view of the money laundering and terrorism financing (ML/TF) risks and vulnerabilities inherent in their operations as well as the absence of regulations and consumer protection measures.

However, current trends globally have shown that there is need to regulate the activities of virtual assets service providers (VASPs) which include cryptocurrencies and crypto assets. Following this development, the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) in 2018 also updated its Recommendation 15 to require VASPS to be regulated to prevent misuse of virtual assets for ML/TF/PF.

Furthermore, Section 30 of the Money Laundering (Prevention and Prohibition) Act, 2022 recognizes VASPs as part of the definition of a financial institution. In addition, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in May 2022 issued Rules on Issuance, Offering and Custody of Digital Assets and VASPS to provide a regulatory framework for their operations in Nigeria.

In view of the foregoing, the CBN hereby issues these Guidelines to provide guidance to financial institutions under its regulatory purview in respect of their banking relationship with VASPs in Nigeria.

The Guidelines supersedes the CBN’s circulars referenced FPR/DIR/GEN/CIR/06/010 of January 12, 2017 and BSD/DIR/PUB/LAB/014/001 of February 5, 2021 on the subject. However, banks and other financial institutions are still prohibited from holding, trading and/or transacting in virtual currencies on their own account.

Accordingly, all banks and other financial institutions are hereby required to immediately comply with the provisions of the Guidelines.

HARUNA B. MUSTAFA

DIRECTOR, FINANCIAL POLICY AND REGULATION DEPARTMENT

By Aliyu Nuhu

No easy way for a country with bizarre economic behaviour. The economic laws are there for easy implementation in a normal society. But Nigeria is not normal. Everyone, from the leases to the ordinary citizens, is looking for ways to damage the country for personal gain. NIGERIA operates its economy with laws made from hell.

We all know our huge appetite for the dollar is driven by our need for foreign goods which we are unable to produce. If we don’t need foreign goods, there will be no demand for dollars since we only need the currency for imports. But who is not guilty among us here?

Naira supply affects inflation since too much money is chasing a few goods but is not the direct cause of the fall of the Naira in the forex market. Laws of demand and supply drive the forex market. More Dollars available will lower its value and vice versa with Naira. But these laws don’t work in Nigeria because of distortion in all economic policies created by the government, mostly by greedy Nigerians and the officials themselves.

The forex window allows funding of critical sectors with dollars by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN). But the distortion here is that those given dollars to import goods will take the money to the money market for round-tripping. The CBN officials will also take the dollar and exchange it for quick gain. Each governor that gets FACC allocation in Naira will take it to market chasing the dollar.

With such behaviour, the Naira can never get a breather. It is this distortion that makes it difficult to explain the reasons why Naira is not only weak but unstable. Currency instability is the worst thing that can happen to a country. At any point in time, investors can never know their profits and losses. It is the reason why companies like Emirates, ShopRite and Game are closing shop.

After looking at some of our promising macro trends, Nigeria is still unable to keep Naira strong because of the depletion of the country’s foreign exchange reserves. The major function of foreign reserves is to keep the Naira strong. But regime after regime keeps spending the reserve account to a point that no one can precisely say the balance of NIGERIA’s foreign reserve.

World Bank said irrespective of all other macroeconomic shortcomings, the Naira can still be exchanged for a dollar one-on-one if we can have $900bn in our foreign reserve. But what do we have today? Less than $30bn!

Kuwait is a consumer country like Nigeria, but because it has a foreign reserve of $137bn and a gold reserve of 78.97 tonnes, it has the strongest currency in the world. But Nigeria has 21.37 tonnes of gold in its reserve and a $34bn reserve for an economy with a GDP of $489bn. Kuwait is able to save with a GDP of $106bn! There is evidence that shows that GDP growth and employment growth increase in response to positive shocks to foreign currency reserves (forex reserves) accumulation, whereas unemployment declines.

Read the reports on the new government report on CBN, and you will understand that the Naira is only competitive by sheer luck, if not a miracle. Everyone, including people in charge of Naira’s health, is out to destroy the Naira.

By Ahmad Deedat Zakari

The suspended governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Godwin Emefiele, has arrived at the Federal High Court sitting in Lagos for trial. 

The former apex bank boss arrived at the court premises around 9:20 am for trial on the allegations of unlawful possession of firearms. 

He is to stand trial on two counts charge of possessing a single-barrel shotgun (JOJEFF MAGNUM 8371) without a license.

Trouble began for Emefiele on June 9th, when he was suspended by President Bola Ahmad Tinubu to allow investigations into his activities as governor of the apex bank. 

Emefiele was arrested upon his suspension and has been in the custody of the Nigerian secret police since June.

By Uzair Adam Imam

A Federal High Court sitting at Maitama in Abuja has ordered the Department of State Services (DSS) to release the suspended Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Godwin Emefele, from detention.

The court order on Thursday asked the DSS to, within seven days, release Emefele or charge him to court as his continued detention is tantamount to a breach of his fundamental human rights.

In a judgement that was delivered by Justice Hamza Muazu, the court held that Emefiele’s continued detention without trial, amounted to a gross violation of his rights.

He added that since allegations against the embattled suspended CBN Governor contained bailable offences, the DSS ought to grant him administrative bail, pending his prosecution.

The judge was quoted to have said, “Though I am in sympathy with the Applicant (Emefiele), my sentiment will not go far to deliver judgement by granting all the reliefs sought by the Applicant.

“The Applicant has not shown that his arrest, detention and investigation were unlawful.

“However, I am concerned that the application is not without merit. The Applicant is entitled to a fair hearing.

“At this point, the continued detention of the Applicant cannot be justified in the absence of any charge against him.

“At the very least, justice demands that Applicant should be released on administrative bail.

“Consequently, I hereby male an order, directing the Respondents to, within one week, charge the Applicant to court or release him on administrative bail,” the court held.

Kabiru Haruna Isa

I have been a loyal customer of Diamond/Access Bank Plc., and I can say without any fear of contradiction that I opened my first bank account with them. I have been banking with them for almost one and a half decades. In fact, I have been serving as a volunteer marketer to the Bank as I convinced many people, including colleagues, friends and family members, to open accounts with it ostensibly because of the hitherto quality services it delivered.

With the implementation of the cashless policy, millions of Nigerians, including myself, are forced to rely on and use alternative payment platforms such as MoniePoint, Opay, Squad and Momo Agent, to mention just a few. The services of these payment platforms are a double-edged sword which eases transactions and creates ceaseless suffering simultaneously for the poor and downtrodden Nigerians. They are also used, in some instances, especially by the agents who render services at the Point of Sale (POS), to extort powerless, hapless and helpless customers. From the time this cashless policy was introduced, millions of Nigerians were robbed of their hard-earned money by some financial service providers, and unfortunately, nobody seems to care to fight for the financial rights of these innocent victims.

And so it happened to me on the 10th day of March 2023. I stopped over at Gidan Maza Quarters, Kumbotso LGA, Kano, to make a transfer at one of the POS kiosks around. The POS agent used the MoMo Agent terminal to transfer some amount to my Access Bank account. And based on the receipt given to me, the transaction went successfully. I waited for the whole day, but my account was not credited. To cut a long story short, today 31st day of March, is exactly three weeks, but my money is still hanging at only God knows where.

I complained continuously to the MoMo agent who operates the POS kiosk, but he informed me that there was virtually nothing he could do to facilitate the unconditional release of my money. As a last option, he took me to the Office of MoMo Agent to lodge my complaint directly to the service providers. What I found shocking and troubling during my interaction with the officials was that MoMo Agent used to partner with Access Bank to provide financial services to their customers, but the relations of the duo got strained due to allegedly petty jealousy, business rivalry and unhealthy competition.

The pertinent question here is why should the business tussle between MoMo Agent and Access Bank rob Nigerians of their hard-earned money. Why these financial service providers should be allowed to inflict systematic and psychological torture on their innocent customers? What are the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), the NDIC and other Financial Regulators doing? The Government should know that many Nigerians are going to bed with empty stomachs because of the rivalry and skirmishes between these financial service providers. The worst part of it is that when customers go to the branches of the bank to complain, they are subjected to long and interminable waits, after which the customer care unit will only succeed in rubbing salt into the wounds. They treat customers with disdain and make sure that they maximally frustrate and confound their misery.

I finally call upon the CBN to inquire, investigate and take necessary action(s) on the ongoing tussle between MoMo Agent and Access Bank so as to end the suffering of Nigerians. The apex bank should equally penalize any of these financial service providers that are guilty of illegally withholding customers’ money.

A lesson is enough for the wise. With the kind of trouble, trauma and travail I underwent following up on this issue throughout these past three weeks, I will flee from any POS kiosk that I see using the MoMo Agent terminal, more so when it is from my Diamond/Access Bank account that I want to transact from. As a matter of fact, I am contemplating closing my Diamond/Access Bank account unless everything is rectified. This is due to the genuine fear I have that whatever happens once can and will indeed happen again.

Dr Kabiru writes from the Department of History, Bayero University, Kano. He can be reached via khisa.his@buk.edu.ng.

By Muhammadu Sabiu 

Femi Gbajabiamila, Speaker of the House of Representatives, praised the Supreme Court’s ruling invalidating the Central Bank of Nigeria’s (CBN) currency policy’s deadline and extending it until December 31, 2023.

This was revealed in a statement released on Friday in Abuja by Mr Lanre Lasisi, Special Assistant to the Speaker on Media and Publicity.

According to Gbajabiamila, this had been the stand of the House of Representatives.

According to the speaker, the design and implementation of the currency exchange policy had been terminally defective and at odds with the goals of law and public policy, despite the scheme’s admirable aims.

He said that the House has been criticising the policy implementation because it violated the statute creating the CBN and that the Supreme Court’s ruling supported the House’s position.

“The decision of the Supreme Court suspending the currency swap policy introduced by CBN and extending the implementation deadline to December 31 validates the position of the House in its entirety,” he said.

The Speaker explained that the implementation of the policy is remarkably haphazard, adding that it falls way short of international standards.

By Uzair Adam Imam

Few days to election and the remours that the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) was planning to shut down all e-transactions on Thursday have gone viral on social media.

However, the CBN has reacted in dismay to the widespread rumours in the early hours of Thursday on its official Facebook page.

The rumours said that the CBN planned to shut down all financial transactions from Thursday, 23rd to 27th of February.

Part of the remour instructed that, “Anyhow you can get money between today and tomorrow get it. Also whatever transfer you want to do, do it between today and tomorrow.

“As from Thursday, banks network will go off till Sunday or Monday so that politicians will not be able to transfer money to anybody for vote.

“So buy enough money and do your transfer now,” the false information said in part.

Meanwhile, the CBN also asked the general public to disregard the rumour while describing it as baseless and misleading.

By Muhammadu Sabiu 

An umbrella organization for banking sector employees, the Association of Senior Employees of Banks, Insurers and Financial Institutions, revealed that banks lost N5 billion as a result of demonstrators’ attacks on assets due to naira scarcity.

Oluwole Olusoji, the group’s president, revealed this on Thursday in Lagos.

He also lamented that the attacks by demonstrators had affected 17 commercial banks.

He explained that in addition to attacks on bank employees, bank premises and ATMs were set on fire.

He said, “We call on the public to desist from threatening or attacking our members or destroying our properties as they will be only proverbially cutting their noses to spite their faces. We can only give what we have been provided with and nothing more.”

By Sumayyah Auwal Ishaq

Kaduna State Governor Nasir Ahmad El- Rufai on Tuesday called on the people of Kaduna to ignore calls for massive protests amidst currency swap debacle.

In a statement signed by the Commissioner Ministry of Internal Security and Home Affairs, Kaduna State, Mr. Samuel Aruwan, Gov. El-Rufa’i said “the government is aware that certain individuals and groups have made plans to organize massive protests, seizing on the acute shortage of cash and attendant hardships faced by citizens”.

He further said “The Kaduna State Government wishes to appeal for caution and vigilance by all citizens, amidst the prevailing situation arising from the ongoing cash swap and currency redesign policy.

“Citizens are reminded that care must be taken not to play into the plans of devious elements seeking to create crisis in this crucial period. Citizens are thus advised to ignore these calls for massive protests in the interest of public security”.

By Muhammadu Sabiu 

A commercial bank in Nigeria, Sterling Bank, has announced that all bank fund transfer services will be offered for free for seventeen days.

This is coming amidst the tough time customers are passing through when withdrawing and depositing money, using online banking, and other financial activities due to the CBN’s new naira note policy that placed many restrictions.

In an email Sterling Bank sent to its customers, it says, “We at Sterling understand the difficult times many of our customers are facing. In light of this, all our fund transfer services will be offered Free of Charge to all personal account customers from February 6, 2023, till February 18, 2023.

“Additionally, we are also pleased to announce that we will be issuing free Debit Cards to all interested customers. This will provide you with a convenient and secure way to make purchases and carry out transactions. You can order your cards directly on OneBank (Download the latest version on your phone’s App Store or simply go to sterling/OneBank)”.