‘We will confront her’ – CBN declares, as minister risks imprisonment hours after inauguration

Newly-inaugurated Minister of Arts, Culture & Creative Economy, Ms Hannatu Musawa, is already facing criminal charges barely days after being sworn into office by President Bola Tinubu.

Ms Musawa is facing up to six months in jail for breaching the law promulgated against the spraying of the Nigerian currency, Naira.

This followed a viral video which showed the new minister spraying a musician with Naira notes at an event said to have been organised to celebrate her inauguration as Minister in the cabinet of President Tinubu, last Monday, August 21.

Oracle Today could not, however, independently verify the actual time or date of the video which showed the event where the Naira was prayed by Ms Musawa.

Spraying of the Naira contravenes Section 21 of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Act 2007, which states that tampering with the naira would attract imprisonment.

According to the Act, anyone caught in the act is guilty of an offence, and liable to six months in prison or will be fined N50,000 or might get both fine and imprisonment.

The CBN explained in the Act that spraying, dancing, or marching on the Naira is an abuse or tampering of Nigeria’s currency.

“A person who tampers with a coin or note issued by the Bank is guilty of an offence and shall on notes and coins imprisonment for a term not less than six months or to a fine not less than N50,000 or to both such fine and imprisonment.

“A coin or note shall be deemed to have been tampered with if the coin or note has been impaired, diminished or lightened otherwise than by fair wear and tear or has been defaced by stumping, engraving, mutilating, piercing, stapling, writing, tearing, soiling, squeezing or any other form of deliberate and willful abuse whether the coin or note has or has not been thereby diminished or lightened.

“For the avoidance of doubt, spraying of, dancing or matching on the Naira or any note issued by the Bank during social occasions or otherwise howsoever shall constitute an abuse and defacing of the Naira or such note and shall be punishable under Sub-section (1) of this section,” the CBN Act read.

Reacting, in an interview with the BBC, CBN’s Director of Corporate Communications, Isa Abdulmumin, said the Naira abuse policy is still active, adding further that the bank ‘will confront her (Musawa).’

“The law is still active and if for anything, stringent measures are in place to curtail such anti-social behaviour. We will confront her.”

The CBN official stated that anyone found culpable risks punishment.

It would be recalled that earlier in February, this year, a popular socialite and Nollywood star, Ms Oluwadarasimi Omoseyin, was remanded at the Kirikiri correctional centre pending the determination of her bail application, for tampering with the naira notes.

The 31-year-old was arrested following the sharing of an online video of her spraying and stepping on newly ‘redesigned’ Naira notes at a party.

In the video, the actress is seen flaunting wads of the newly redesigned naira notes.

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) subsequently arraigned Omoseyin before Justice Chukwujekwu Aneke of the Federal High Court in Ikoyi, Lagos, on two counts brought against her.

One of the count read, “That you Oluwadarasimi Omoseyin on the 28th day of January, 2023 at Monarch event center, Lekki within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court whilst dancing during a social occasion tampered with the sum of N100, 000.00 (One Hundred Thousand Naira) issued by the Central Bank of Nigeria by spraying same in the said occasion and you thereby committed an offence contrary to and punishable under section 21 (1) of the Central Bank Act, 2007.

The second read, “That you Oluwadarasimi Omoseyin on the 28th day of January, 2023 at Monarch event center, Lekki within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court whilst dancing during a social occasion tampered with the sum of N100, 000.00 (One Hundred Thousand Naira) issued by the Central Bank of Nigeria by dancing on same in the said occasion and you thereby committed an offence contrary to and punishable under section 21 (1) of the Central Bank Act, 2007.”

She however pleaded not guilty to the offence.

In view of her plea, the prosecution counsel, S.I Sulaiman asked the court for a trial date and prayed that the defendant be remanded in the appropriate correctional facility.

Justice Aneke deferred ruling on the bail application to Wednesday, February 15, 2023 and remanded the defendant in Kirikiri correctional facility.

The actress was earlier grilled by operatives of the EFCC for spraying the newly ‘redesigned’ naira notes at a party, which the anti-graft claimed violates Section 21 (5) of the Central Bank of Nigeria Act of 2007.

The actress was arrested by operatives of the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Fraud Related Offences Commission (ICPC), on Wednesday, February 1, 2023 along Awolowo Road, Ikoyi, Lagos, following intelligence report.

The actress was handed over to the EFCC for additional inquiries the following day.