The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), on Monday, February 13, said that it seized fake naira notes worth N365.24 million between 2016 and 2020.
The apex bank collated the figures from its annual report for each year.
The 2017 CBN annual report noted that the bank seized 77,576 pieces of counterfeit naira notes, valued at N51.45 million in 2016.
The 2018 report showed that N93.43 million fake naira notes were seized in 2017 and N98.82 million in 2018.
The report reads, “To maintain the integrity of the banknotes in circulation, the department, in collaboration with commercial banks and security agencies, continued to intensify its efforts at mitigating the incidences of counterfeiting during the period under review.
“A total of 119,663 pieces of counterfeit naira notes with a nominal value of N98.82 million was recorded in 2018.
“This indicated a decline of 1.30 percent in volume terms and an increase of 5.77 percent in value terms when compared with 118,126 pieces with a nominal value of N93.43 million recorded in the corresponding period of 2017.”
The 2020 annual report showed that N64.71 million counterfeit naira notes were seized in 2019 and N56.83 million in 2020.
The report added that, “To maintain the integrity of the naira notes in circulation, the apex bank, in collaboration with security agencies, sustained efforts at combating counterfeiting activities in 2020.
“A total of 67,265 pieces of counterfeit notes with a nominal value of N56.83 million was recorded in 2020.
“This was 20.80 percent in volume and 12.18 percent value, lower than 84,934 pieces and N64.71 million in 2019.”
The bank has maintained that N1000 and N500 notes have been the most counterfeited over the years.
The CBN, in a circular to commercial banks in January 2019, threatened to fine banks for paying fake naira notes through their automated teller machines (ATMs).
It warned that each bank would be fined N1 million per branch, if found guilty of this crime.
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