There were more mint notes at Obi Cubana’s mum’s burial than in all Nigerian banks – Reuben Abati

Reuben Abati, a former aide to ex-President Goodluck Jonathan, stated that there were more crisp, mint notes in circulation at the funeral of the mother of the Chairman of Cubana Group, Obi Iyiegbu popularly known as Obi Cubana in Oba, Anambra state, over the weekend than in the entire Nigerian banking system.

Abati stated this in an article while reacting to the lavish display of wealth witnessed during the much talked about burial that shut down the social media sphere.

The Arise TV anchor disclosed that the burial which took seven months to organised as the late mother, Ezinne Iyiegbu passed passed on in November 2020 saw Nigeria’s currency grossly abused.

“Nigerian banks would also readily tell you that they don’t have new notes. They give out dirty notes to their customers. But there were more crisp, mint notes in circulation at Oba over the weekend than in the entire Nigerian banking system. And the notes were abused.”

He explained that Obi Cubana and his associates, who threw money around like it’s out of fashion were not bothered about the Central Bank Act of Nigeria which prescribe penalties for the abuse of the country ‘s national currency.

He argued that why we they bother when the funeral was well attended by the same law enforcement officers who should know that it is an offence to abuse the Naira.

“The Central Bank Act of Nigeria – Sections 5, 21 (4-5) prescribe penalties for the abuse of the country ‘s national currency. The law forbids the sale, purchase, and the plunking of the Naira, and prescribes penalties: six months imprisonment or a fine of N50, 000 or both.

“The penalties are so light, I don’t think they mean anything to Cubana and his friends or their likes. And why should that bother them anyway when the Oba funeral was attended by the same law enforcement officers who should know that it is an offence to abuse the Naira (truth is: policemen joined others to collect the notes that dropped on the floor), and there were lawmakers and prominent politicians in attendance too.”