The Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, has debunked rumours that some financial institutions in the country are ‘sick’, assuring that “our financial system is sound, stable and resilient”.
CBN Director, Corporate Communications, Mr. Osita Nwanusobi, who gave the assurance during a CBN sensitisation programme on eNaira jointly held virtually in Abia and Ebonyi States on Thursday, urged members of the public to discountenance the rumours.
He however, cautioned members of the public against falling victim of various subtle Ponzi schemes being hawked around by fraudsters masquerading as investors.
The CBN image maker urged members of the public to reject any appeal to invest in any institution that is not regulated by CBN as doing so amounts to taking a big financial risk.
He regretted that a lot of unsuspecting Nigerians have been defrauded by fraudsters.
Mr. Nwanusobi also cautioned against falling into the hands of people who claim to be partnering with CNB and luring members of the public to buy forms to fill for CBN loans.
He explained that CBN forms for any intervention are not for sale, hence members of the public should be properly guided.
He further explained that the fair was organized as a platform to create awareness for various CBN interventions and guide the public on how to access them, as well as harvest ideas to modify their policies
Nwanusobi also said the event was to educate the public more on eNaira which was recently launched by the apex bank.
According to him, eNaira is the digital equivalent of the physical Naira.
He said that contrary to misinformation in some quarters, eNaira is different from crypto currency because it is a legal tender backed up by law and regulated by the CBN unlike crypto currency which is a private digital currency.
He said that Nigeria was the first African country to launch digital currency and urged members of the public to embrace the innovation, adding that some African countries are now coming to borrow a leaf from Nigeria.