Business
CBN sanctions 9 banks for failing to dispense cash via ATMs
The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has sanctioned some Deposit Money Banks (DMBs) for failing to make Naira notes available through automated teller machines (ATMs), during the yuletide season.
According to a statement by Hakama Sidi-Ali, CBN’s Director, Corporate Communications Department, this is a clear message of zero tolerance for cash flow disruptions.
The affected banks are Fidelity Bank Plc, First Bank Plc, Keystone Bank Plc, Union Bank Plc, Globus Bank Plc, Providus Bank Plc, Zenith Bank Plc, United Bank for Africa Plc, and Sterling Bank Plc.
Sidi-Ali said that each of the banks was fined N150 million for non-compliance, in line with the CBN’s cash distribution guidelines, following spot checks on their branches.
She said that the enforcement action followed repeated warnings from the CBN to financial institutions to guarantee seamless cash availability, particularly during periods of high demand.
“Communication with the banks revealed that the fines would be debited directly from their accounts with the apex bank.
“Ensuring seamless cash flow is paramount to maintaining public trust and economic stability.
“The CBN will not hesitate to impose further sanctions on any institution found violating its cash circulation guidelines,” she said.
She said the CBN’s investigations and monitoring would continue to scrutinise cash hoarding and rationing, both at bank branches and by Point-of-Sale (POS) operators.
She added that the CBN was working with security agencies to crack down on illegal cash sales and operational violations, including enforcing POS operators’ daily cumulative withdrawal limit of N1.2 million.
She urged all financial institutions to comply with its guidelines, warning that further violations would attract swift and decisive sanctions.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the CBN Governor, Yemi Cardoso, had earlier warned banks to strictly adhere to cash distribution policies or face severe penalties.
Cardoso gave the warning in his address at the Annual Bankers’ Dinner of the Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria (CIBN) in Nov., 2024.
He underscored the apex bank’s commitment to maintaining a robust cash buffer to meet the need of Nigerians.
“Our focus remains on fostering trust, ensuring stability, and guaranteeing seamless cash circulation across the financial system,” Cardoso had said.(NAN)
Nigerian carrier, Air Peace, has clarified why its Benin to Abuja flight P47171 was delayed in the air on Friday.
In a statement issued by the Head of Corporate Communications, Ejike Ndiulo, Air Peace Airline on Saturday stated that during the aircraft’s descent into Abuja, the flight encountered turbulence as a result of adverse weather conditions, including thunderstorms.
The statement further stressed that in line with global aviation safety standards, “our crew activated appropriate safety protocols and held in a holding pattern until weather conditions improved.”
Social media users complained on Saturday that the aircraft hung in the air longer than necessary before landing.
Elanza news understands that when an aircraft is held in a holding pattern, this means the plane was instructed to fly a specific course around a designated point while waiting for permission from the control tower to proceed with its planned route, approach, or landing.
This is often due to factors like traffic congestion at the given airport, weather delays, or other operational issues that could result in an incident or accident if the aircraft had landed against instructions.
In simpler terms, a holding pattern is a temporary waiting area for an aircraft in the air, allowing it to remain airborne while awaiting further instructions for landing.
The statement further stated, “We are pleased to confirm that the aircraft landed safely and the passengers disembarked normally. Air Peace is unwavering in its commitment to ensuring the highest standards of safety across all our operations.”
IMF to FG: Enhance transparency in oil sector, contain borrowing
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has advised Nigeria to enhance transparency in the oil sector to ensure that the subsidy removal savings are transferred to the government’s budget.
Abebe Selassie, the director of the African department at the IMF, gave the advice on Friday while presenting the findings of the Regional Economic Outlook for Sub-Saharan Africa report at the IMF and World Bank spring meetings in Washington, DC, the United States.
Selassie was responding to questions on the federal government’s reforms and Nigeria’s debt profile, which currently sits at N142.3 trillion as at September 2024.
Speaking to journalists, the director said the fund has been very impressed by the reforms Nigeria has undertaken to address microeconomic imbalances in the country.
The director said the subsidy was taking “a very large” share of the limited tax revenues, which was not effectively used to help the most vulnerable people.
“So it’s been really good to see the government taking these head on, and also beginning to roll out the third component of the reforms that we’ve been advocating for, [that] government has been pursuing, which is to expand social protection to target generalised subsidies to help the most vulnerable,” he said.
“This has all been very good to see, but more can be done, particularly on the latter front: expanding social protection and also enhancing a lot more transparency in the oil sector, so that the removal of subsidies does translate into flow of revenue into government budget.
“So, there’s still a bit more work to do in these areas.”
Selassie disclosed that the IMF had a mission in Nigeria, where discussions with the authorities focused on issues related to the nation’s macroeconomic conditions.
Still, the director advised the federal government to consider reforms in other areas to engender more private sector investment, and also how more resources can be “adopted” to help Nigeria generate the revenues needed to build more schools, universities, and infrastructure.
“So there’s a comprehensive set of reforms that Nigeria can pursue that would help engender more growth and help diversify the economy away from reliance on oil,”
“And this diversification is all the more important given what we’re seeing happening to commodity prices.”
Selassie acknowledged that while the government is undertaking reforms, there will be a financing need.
He urged the authorities to adopt “a judicious and agile” way of dealing with the financing challenges the country faces.
The IMF official said Nigeria’s financing gap “can only be filled” by permanent sources such as revenue mobilisation in the long run.
“But in the interim, carefully looking at all of the options the country has to borrow in a contained way, will be part of that solution,” he said.
“And I think the government has been going about this prudently and cautiously so far, and we’re encouraged by that.”
In January, the Debt Management Office(DMO) said the total domestic debt was N73.4 trillion ($45.8 billion) while the total external debt was N68.8 trillion ($43 billion).
The debt body said the increase was primarily due to rising domestic borrowing and the impact of exchange rate depreciation on external debt when converted to naira terms.
The Federal Government is set to launch the National Agribusiness Policy Mechanism (NAPM) to strengthen agricultural productivity, stabilise food prices, and drive economic growth.
The NAPM is part of broader initiatives aimed at transforming the country’s agricultural sector through data-driven policies and public-private partnerships.
Speaking on Friday in Abuja during a meeting of the Presidential Food Systems Coordinating Unit (PFSCU) Steering Committee at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, Vice President Kashim Shettima said the initiative will align agricultural efforts across all government tiers through real-time data analytics.
“The Green Imperative Project (GIP) is an idea whose time has come. It has been in the incubation period for several years, and now it is coming to fruition; we have to get it right.
“We have had many interventions in this country in the past. We must make this work, and it’s the states that will drive the process,” the Vice President said.
Signed between Nigeria and Brazil on March 17, 2025, the Green Imperative Project (GIP) is a $1.1 billion initiative aimed to modernise 774 mid-sized Nigerian farms with Brazilian agricultural technologies, creating jobs and boosting productivity across the nation.
VP Shettima further said President Bola Tinubu has approved ₦15 billion for the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) to prepare for floods as the rainy season kicks in.
“This is one of the first proactive decisions by the government to prepare for the flooding season,” the Vice President noted.
Earlier, the Technical Assistant to the President on Agriculture and Executive Secretary of PFSCU, Marion Moon, explained that NAPM aims to address challenges of high food inflation and agricultural yields that lag 60 per cent behind global averages.
She revealed that the pilot survey for NAPM has been completed across 13 states, with a full launch planned for June 2025.
The NAPM, supported by data analytics partnerships and a digital platform under development, is designed to tackle food inflation, inefficient subsidies, and outdated farming practices, to give the country a unified framework to optimise public spending and drive sustainable rural development.
Those present at the meeting included Governors of Jigawa State, Umar Namadi, and Ekiti State, Biodun Oyebanji; Deputy Governors of Borno State, Umar Kadafur, and Ebonyi State, Patricia Onyemaechi Obila.
Others are Minister of Agriculture and Food Security, Senator Abubakar Kyari; Minister of State for Agriculture and Food Security, Aliyu Abdullahi; Permanent Secretary of the Federal Ministry of Finance; heads of agriculture and manufacturing private sector players, and international development partners.