The Senate condemned the act of hawking, selling and otherwise illegally trading in new Naira notes, coins or any notes issued by the Central Bank of Nigeria.

It urged security agencies, as a matter of urgency, to enforce compliance with the provisions of Section 21 of the CBN Act, 2007 which prohibited illicit trade in Naira notes.

The lawmakers mandated the CBN to strengthen its system that audits the process of collation, processing and disposing of defaced and mutilated notes.

They also asked the CBN to probe the allegation that commercial bank officials do in fact sell new Naira notes to illegal peddlers.

The resolutions followed a motion on “Urgent need to end the illicit trade in freshly minted Naira notes” presented by Senator Mao Ohuabunwa (Abia North).

Ohuabunwa in his lead debate noted that every country’s currency is a national treasure deserving of a level of dignity, and Nigeria Naira is not an exception.

He said that throughout the country from Lagos to Sokoto, Kano, Enugu, Port Harcourt and even the FCT, a huge illicit industry has been built around trading on freshly minted Naira notes by certain individuals who engage in the touting and hawking of the nation’s treasure and legal tender.

The Abia North lawmaker observed that at popular motor parks like Ojota Park along Lagos-Ikorodu expressway and bus stops like the Dei-Dei pedestrian bridge in Abuja and many similar sports in the nation, new naira note peddlers are seen boldly hawking their wares as if these were ordinary goods.

He noted while some of these illicit money sellers attracted people by the road sides, others sit beneath umbrellas with bags full of crispy naira notes at their feet, where customers gather to transact within the confines of their vehicles, just like in any other consumer goods.

He said that the illicit naira peddlers also lurk around weddings and other social events where they showcase well bound naira notes which they sell to individuals to fuel a culture of extravagance and disgrace of our naira treasure through spraying of same on friends and well-wishers-an act that further subjects the naira to other forms of abuse such as mutilation, folding and other forms of unwarranted misuse.