The Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) says it has arrested two bank officials in Osogbo and Abuja for hoarding the redesigned bank notes.
In a statement on Friday, the commission said the bank officials are the operation manager of First City Monument Bank (FCMB) in Osogbo and the branch service head of Stanbic IBTC Bank, Dei-Dei branch, Abuja.
ICPC said the operation manager of FCMB in Osogbo, the Osun state capital, was arrested for loading ATM vaults with wrapped new naira notes, thereby preventing the ATMs from dispensing cash.
“ICPC Compliance Team in Oshogbo has busted an FCMB in Osogbo, Osun State where some ATMs were loaded with cash with their wrappers unremoved, thus preventing the cash from being dispensed,” the statement read.
“The team, therefore, directed that the wrappers be removed, and the cash loaded properly. However, when a follow-up visit was undertaken the following day to ascertain the level of compliance, the team discovered that one of the ATMs was still loaded with the wrappers unremoved. The operation manager of the bank was arrested and taken in for questioning.”
The commission also said the branch service head of Stanbic IBTC bank in Dei-Dei, Abuja, was taken into custody for her “deliberate refusal to upload cash into the branch’s Automated Teller Machines (ATM) even when the cash was available, and people were queuing at the ATMs.”
Explaining further, ICPC said, “When the ICPC monitoring team stormed the bank at about 1:30 p.m. to ensure compliance and demanded an explanation as to why all the ATMs were not dispensing cash, it was informed by the branch’s head of operations that the bank just got delivery of the cash.
“However, facts available to the ICPC operatives indicated that the branch took delivery of the cash around 11:58 a.m. and either willfully or maliciously refused to feed the ATMs with the cash.
“Against this backdrop, the ICPC team compelled the bank to load the ATMs with the redesigned naira notes and ensured that they were all dispensing before arresting the culprit.”
ICPC said investigations are still ongoing and that the commission will take appropriate actions as soon they are concluded.
