The Central Bank of Nigeria has instructed all deposit money banks to open on Saturday and Sunday in preparation for a large-scale naira note distribution (CBN).

The command came from CBN on Friday. As part of a coordinated effort to facilitate the circulation of banknotes of various denominations, the apex bank has also started a huge deployment of banknotes from its vaults to commercial banks throughout the nation.

This was made known on Friday by the Acting Director, Corporate Communications Department of the CBN, Dr. Isa AbdulMumin. According to The Whistler, Abdulmumin stated that a substantial amount of money, in various denominations, had been received by the commercial banks for onward circulation to their respective customers.

The CBN spokesperson said the apex bank has also directed all banks to load their Automated Teller Machines (ATMs) as well as conduct physical operations in the banking halls through the weekends.

“Branches of commercial banks will operate on Saturdays and Sundays to attend to customers’ cash needs,” he noted.

He added that the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Godwin Emefiele, would personally lead teams to monitor the level of compliance by the banks in various locations across the country. He, therefore, urged Nigerians to be patient as the current situation would ease soon with the injection of more banknotes into circulation.