Planned jail for forex holders: We aren’t involved – CBN

•    Says no plans to seize dom accounts
CENTRAL Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has denied any involvement in some rumoured plans to amend the Foreign Exchange Act and sent Nigerians holding foreign currencies beyond 30 days.
This clarification came on Monday following reported plans to amend the Foreign-Exchange Act to provide for the imprisonment of anyone who holds foreign currencies, particularly the United States dollars, for more than 30 days.
“We have nothing to do with such legislation,” said Isaac Okorafor, Acting Director, Corporate Communications, who stressed that the CBN, in line with its mandate, was committed to safeguarding the international value of the country’s legal tender currency.
He, however, denied knowledge of the proposed clause recommending a jail term for as long as two years or a fine of 20 per cent of the amount for any holder of foreign exchange in cash.
“To the best of my knowledge, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has not proposed any bill seeking to arrest and jail persons holding foreign exchange for more than 30 days,” Okorafor was quoted as saying.
He also denied that the CBN was planning to confiscate funds in domiciliary accounts of individuals, saying any such claim was false.
It will be recalled that media report broke suggesting that the Federal Government and the Central Bank of Nigeria were considering imprisoning anyone who holds foreign currencies, particularly the United States dollars, for more than 30 days as a way of stemming the volatility in the exchange rate and strengthen the international value of the Naira.