The Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, has issued fines to at least nine Deposit Money Banks for failing to ensure cash availability via automated teller machines, ATMs, during the festive season.

The fines total N1.35bn, with each of the banks fined N150m.

The banks were found culpable after spot checks revealed non-compliance with the Central Bank’s cash distribution guidelines.

A statement released by CBN acting Director of Corporate Communications, Mrs Hakama Sidi Ali, on Tuesday, read: “In a clear message of zero tolerance for cash flow disruptions, the Central Bank of Nigeria has sanctioned Deposit Money Banks for failing to make naira notes available through automated teller machines during the yuletide season.

“Each bank was fined N150m for non-compliance, in line with the CBN’s cash distribution guidelines, following spot checks on their branches. The enforcement action follows repeated warnings from the CBN to financial institutions to guarantee seamless cash availability, particularly during periods of high demand.

“The affected banks include Fidelity Bank Plc, First Bank Plc, Keystone Bank Plc, Union Bank Plc, Globus Bank Plc, Providus Bank Plc, Zenith Bank Plc, United Bank for Africa Plc, and Sterling Bank Plc.”

The fine will be debited directly from the banks’ accounts with CBN.

The Federal Ministry of Power is proposing to spend N8 billion to orient Nigerians on prompt payment of electricity bills in 2025.

The Minister of Power, Adebayo Adelabu, disclosed this while defending the ministry’s budget before the National Assembly joint committee on power on Monday, January 13.

According to Adelabu, the advocacy would be done through social, digital and print mediums in order to reach all Nigerians. Adelabu explained that many Nigerians need orientation to realise that the power sector is a national asset that needs protection.

“We are a people of over 200 million strength. So we need to go through all the loopholes, through social media, through digital media, through the print media, to actually orientate and do this advocacy. So we have N8 billion.

In terms of advocacy, we believe that our people need to be re-educated. They need to be re-orientated to know that the power assets are national assets, and we should all jointly own it.

Our people need to know that they should avoid power theft. When they see something, they must say something. Our people need to know that they must pay their bills regularly. All these need to be passed across. We believe that the power sector needs to do a lot of advocacy, re-orientation and re-education of our people” Adelabu said

Minister of Power, Adebayo Adelabu, has said that the national electricity grid will remain prone to collapse.

According to the Minister, this was due to the government’s inability to repair a crucial transmission line in the northern part of the country owing to persistent insecurity.

Adelabu said this on Monday during the 2025 budget defense session with the Senate Joint Committee on Power.

The Minister said that the Shiroro-Kaduna-Mando line, which had been out of service since a vandalism incident in October 2024, had caused immeasurable loss to the nation.

He pointed to this as a major reason for the frequent collapse of the national grid.

“The Kaduna-Shiroro-Mando line was one of the two major lines transmitting power to the north.

“The second, the Ugwuaji-Makurdi line, was also vandalized but has been repaired.

“The Shiroro-Mando-Kaduna line, however, remains down due to insecurity.

“This is why our grid is so fragile, as it relies on a single line, causing unnecessary strain,” he said.

Adelabu said the government can only work on quicker restoration when the power grid collapses.