The managing director of the Yobe Micro Finance Bank, Sheriff Almuhajir, on Tuesday accused some unnamed commercial bank managers of diverting the the sum of N4.3 billion approved by the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, for banks in Yobe State.
This was communicated in a video he posted on his Facebook page, claiming that he can “authoritatively” state that the N4.3 billion was diverted out of the state.
He said in the video, “My people of Yobe State and Damaturu in particular, I want to tell you that I got reliable information that the Central Bank of Nigeria, Damaturu Branch, has brought N1000 denominations of 4.3 billion naira to Yobe State.
“More than N700 million of the amount was meant for POS agents. But the question I want to ask then is where are these monies?
“I can also tell you that we don’t have N1 billion of the new currency in circulation in this state. What is the population of the Yobe State?
Furthermore, Almuhajir said that banks in Yobe State could not have exhausted that amount in one week even if all ATMs dispensed cash every minute.
“Even if the ATM machines have been dispensing cash every minute between last week and today, I can assure that we have not withdrawn N1 billion in this state,” he lamented.
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He added that there had been long queues of frustrated customers in most banks within the state over the week.
He also lamented that things have turned upside down since the scarcity of naira hit the nation, stating that it affects the less privileged more than the rich.
The Microfinance bank CEO said, “I insist that these monies are not in Yobe State; if you’re in doubt, prove me wrong. Show me where they are kept. Or in whose possession they are, the people that got the money.”
Almuhajir added that even the state government can’t boast of having N1 million naira in cash in its possession.
“I am very optimistic that these monies were diverted out of the state and we won’t accept that.
“Even though I am aware that investigation is ongoing, we want stakeholders to come together and find out where the monies were taken to. Because the monies were never dispensed to our people.
“How can a very few people hold us to ransom? We can’t even pay for little things.
“We don’t even have up to 50 ATMs in the state, so how can people withdraw N4.3. billion in a short period of time?” he said.