A video circulating on social media on Sunday has revealed N200 notes customised with the picture and names of a couple.
The N200 notes labelled “Wedding Republic of Nigeria” in place of the “Central Bank of Nigeria,” bears the date 26-03-2023, along with the names, Emwinghare and Adazee.
The Central Bank of Nigeria has strict regulations against tampering with the country’s currency, deeming it “mutilation” and punishable by law.
However, this customisation has drawn mixed reactions from netizens. While some condemned the act as a form of naira abuse, others praised the idea.
Reacting to the video, an X user, olutayo_richard, wrote, “Any act capable of snowballing into widespread naira counterfeiting should also be outlawed, along with naira mutilation.
“Why do people have to display naira spraying as a way of giving cash gifts rather than bank transfers or cash envelopes?”
DannyI05900085 commented, “Naira should not have been printed on the note at all. It could have been 200 only without naira inscription. This is far worse than mutilation. This is a case of fake notes.”
Another tweep, Onlineguru_, claimed, “A lot of Clubs do this.”
JesseNwokoma seemed to praise the idea as he wrote, “Just transfer the worth of what you want to spray, and they give you this, I think it makes sense.”
MRBabaKEN also commented, “This is perfect. Spraying money in events is part of our culture that cannot be erased.”
The apprehension surrounding the spraying of naira comes in the wake of recent legal actions taken against individuals, including controversial cross-dresser, Idris Okuneye, aka Bobrisky, and socialite, Pascal Okechukwu, aka Cubana Chief Priest, for abusing the national currency.
It was also reported on Saturday that the Chairman of the Nigerians in Diaspora Commission, Abike Dabiri-Erewa, recounted her recent experience at a birthday party, stating that everyone at the party, including her, was afraid to spray the naira.
In light of these developments, PUNCH Online presented a list of nine actions involving the naira that could lead to legal consequences.
The report included that it is illegal to spray banknotes at events; and anyone caught tampering with the naira note will face legal consequences, as stated in the CBN Act Section 21.
It also stated that dancing or stamping on naira banknotes is prohibited by law, and selling currency banknotes is illegal.