ICPC Discovers N258M In Sterling Bank’s Vault, Arrests Managers

Few days after it denied hoarding some millions of cash in its Ado Ekiti branch, Nigeria’s Independent Corrupt Practices Commission (ICPC) said it discovered the sum of N258 million stashed in the vault at the Abuja regional head office of Sterling Bank Plc.

This is even as the hardship of Nigerians occassioned by Naira and fuel scarcity continues to increase with most branches of banks in Lagos closed while the Automated Teller Machines (ATMs) have become ghosts of themselves.

To make matters worse, mobile applications of some banks, like the GTbank’s 373 USSD code has been experiencing hitches without effecting transfers but responding with, “we are experiencing temporary issues, try later or 30 mins later’.

However, disclosing the information about hoarding via Twitter on Tuesday evening, the ICPC assured that the Federal Government will continue to fight against naira hoarding.

Meanwhile, the anti-graft agency said that both the Regional and Service managers of Sterling Bank  were arrested and later granted administrative bail while the investigation continues.

Also, the Head of Operations at Keystone Bank in Nasarawa State was arrested for frustrating customers from getting the new naira notes.

Part of the statement by the ICPC said:

“ICPC busts Bank discovers N258m, makes arrests as Operatives of ICPC last week Friday, discovered the sum of Two Hundred and Fifty-Eight Million Naira (N258m) stashed in the vault at the head office of Sterling Bank in Abuja.
“This discovery followed one of the Commission’s operations at ensuring that commercial banks and other interest groups do not flout the apex bank’s directive. When the ICPC monitoring team visited the bank and discovered the stashed new Naira notes in the bank’s vault.
“It was informed that the cash was the remnant of what the CBN had given the bank for onward distribution to its branches. The team however found out that only the sum of Five Million Naira (N5m) each was distributed to their various branches.”

Naira Redesign: ICPC busts Bank, Discovers N258m, Makes Arrests

Operatives of ICPC last week Friday, discovered the sum of Two Hundred and Fifty-Eight Million Naira (N258m) stashed in the vault at the head office of Sterling Bank in Abuja. pic.twitter.com/CmYyREmjNH

— ICPC Nigeria (@icpcnigeria) February 7, 2023

The ICPC stated that the arrests were made after it investigated why the bank’s Automated Teller Machines (ATMs) were not dispensing cash to stranded customers.

“The Commission has also effected the arrest of the Head of Operations, Keystone Bank, Mararaba in Nasarawa State for frustrating its customers at getting the new Naira notes. The ICPC team, while on its routine operation, found out that the Automated Teller Machines (ATMs) at the branch were not dispensing to its customers, while other bank customers were accessing only One Thousand Naira,” the ICPC said.
ICPC further noted that it was only after the arrest was made and clarification received from CBN that the position of the officers of the Bank was not correct and that the ATMs started dispensing Five Thousand Naira to non-customers and Ten Thousand Naira to its customers.

Nigerians across the country have been going through a tough time trying to get cash since the CBN’s cash swap policy. The development has been widely condemned.

However, the1 Supreme Court on Wednesday temporarily halted the move by the federal government to ban the use of the old naira notes from February 10, 2023.A seven-member panel led by Justice John Okoro, halted the move of the federal government in a ruling in an exparte application brought by three northern states of Kaduna, Kogi and Zamfara.

ALSO READ:Supreme Court Temporarily Halts Banning of Old Naira Notes

The three states had specifically applied for an order of Interim Injunction restraining “the federal government through the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) or the commercial banks from suspending or determining or ending on February 10, 2023, the time frame with which the now older version of the 200, 500 and 1,000 denomination of the naira may no longer be legal tender pending the hearing and determination of their motion on notice for interlocutory injunction”.

Moving the application on Wednesday, counsel to the applicants, Mr A. I. Mustapha, SAN, had urged the apex court to grant the application in the interest of justice and the well-being of Nigeria.

He stated that the policy of the government had led to an “excruciating situation that is almost leading to anarchy in the land “.