CBN worried by high incidences of dud cheques — official

An official of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Mr Obinna Akoma, has expressed concern with the high incidences of dud cheques in the country. Akoma, who is the Assistant Manager of Consumer Protection, said at a workshop on financial literacy in Enugu on Tuesday that the rate at which bank customers were issued dud cheques by friends and associates was becoming alarming. He said the CBN had directed commercial banks to submit the list of account numbers involved in the illegal act.

 “In 2012 alone, 167,000 incidences of dud cheques valued at N166 million were processed by the CBN,” he said. Akoma said there were extant legislations that prescribed sanctions for perpetrators of such ignoble act and wondered if those legal provisions were in force.

“The 1977 Dishonoured Cheque Act makes it an offence to give a cheque of an unfunded account. The penalty is two years imprisonment without an option of fine and I don’t know whether the rule is still applicable,” he said. He said the trend would affect the financial inclusion policy of the CBN on the economy if left unchecked.

“The cashless policy will be at risk if we continue to issue such cheques because it will increase the volume of cash in circulation as people will lose confidence in the system.’’

Akoma said that the CBN would continue to engage stakeholders to fight the incidence. The workshop is part of ongoing efforts by the apex bank to sensitise bank customers in the South-East on their rights.