Bill proposing N200,000 fine for naira abusers passes second reading

A bill seeking to amend the Currency Offences Act 2004 and institute a stiffer penalty for abusers of the naira on Tuesday passed second reading in the House of Representatives.

The sponsor of the bill, Uchechuku Nnam-Obi, had expressed concern over the increasing rate of abuse of the country’s currency.

According to him, the emerging amendment bill seeks to institute a stiffer penalty for the violation of the Principal Act by substituting the sum of N1,000 with the sum of N200,000 as fine in section 4 of the Act.

“It is a crime to hawk the naira and you see this abound in this country, in most cities in Nigeria, there is a place in Dei-Dei in Abuja, somewhere in Lagos and other towns it is shameful.

“And even go to ceremonies where you have wedding ceremonies, you see them selling it as though it were commodity like selling pepper and onion.

“For enforcement, we will charge our security operatives to do their bid.

“They need to do the needful to ensure that this is eradicated off our streets.

“If nobody is buying, nobody will sell so we should also call on our citizens of this great country not to patronise them.’’

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