Ben Ezechime, Enugu
The President of Civil Liberties Realisation Advancement Network, Mr Olu Omotayo, has suggested a review of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Act by the incoming National Assembly.
Omotayo, who is also a Legal Practitioner, spoke on the backdrop of the current cash swap policy of the bank and its challenges.
He described the policy as a wrong and failed step by the apex bank, adding that it was ill advised.
“I advocate that the incoming National Assembly should look into the CBN Act with the view to reforming it.
“Section 6, of the CBN Act provides for a Board but it did not provide for who takes responsibility of failed policies of the bank.
“This problem should be squarely blamed on the CBN board because they should have advised the bank well on what needed to be done,” he said.
He said that the policy had caused untold hardship to many Nigerians some of whom have lost their hard earned monies due to no fault of theirs.
He said: “Many Nigerians have lost their hard earned monies through faulty bank transactions; people have developed sicknesses while queuing for hours and days to collect money.
“Why did the CBN wait until the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC), threatened to picket it before trying to bring things under control.
“Who compensates Nigerians for all these losses. Someone must apologise for it and this ought to the CBN board.”
Meanwhile, the cash swap policy is beginning to ease in parts of Enugu as queues gradually reduce.
Also, the different Point of Sale (PoS) operators have begun to reverse the commission being paid by customers.
