The chairman of the Kaduna chapter of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), Joseph Hayab, has slammed bank officials.
He called for the arrest and prosecution of bank officials hoarding the new naira notes.
His statement came amid the scarcity of the new naira notes across the country — a situation that is heightening tension and causing hardship for Nigerians.
Hayab, who spoke in Kaduna on Sunday, commended President Muhammadu Buhari on the direction of the policy aimed at deterring vote buying.
The cleric said the Central Bank of Niger(CBN) should do everything possible to make the currency available to end the hardship.
“Notwithstanding CAN believe that despite the temporary pains Nigerians face, the citizenry is prepared to support the president on the matter of the deadline, especially if it would assist to ease the tension in the country,” he said.
“Therefore, managers of banks who are found to hoard the new naira notes to create artificial scarcity, but are behind the public arena helping money-bag politicians to get the new notes, set the public up against the CBN’s new policy.
“Such banks and bankers should be investigated, and if found culpable, be made to face the wrath of the law.
“CAN will continue to sensitize and mobilize our faithful to support any programme which results could bring about good service delivery for a better nation.”
Meanwhile, Usman Alkali Baba, the inspector-general of police (IGP), has ordered the arrest of persons selling or abusing the naira.
He had said all individuals engaged in the sale or abuse of the naira notes issued by the CBN should be prosecuted.
On Friday, it was reported that the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) arrested the manager of a bank in Osogbo, the Osun capital, over ATMs loaded with naira notes that were blocked from dispensing.
The commission also arrested a branch service head of Stanbic IBTC Bank in Deidei, Abuja, over the “deliberate refusal to upload cash into the branch’s ATMs even when the cash was available”.