The Central Bank of Nigeria has directed all commercial banks in the country to open for operation on Saturdays and Sundays as part of a coordinated effort to ease the circulation of banknotes of various denominations.

Disclosed in a statement signed by the CBN Acting Director, Corporate Communications Department, Isa AbdulMumin, in Abuja on Friday afternoon, a substantial amount of money, in various denominations, had been received by the commercial banks for onward circulation to their respective customers as well as conduct physical operations in the banking halls through the weekends.

“The CBN had directed all banks to load their Automated Teller Machines as well as conduct physical operations in the banking halls through the weekends” reads part of the statement. “Branches of commercial banks will operate on Saturdays and Sundays to attend to customers’ cash needs.” “The Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Mr Godwin Emefiele, would personally lead teams to monitor the level of compliance by the banks in various locations across the country,” the statement continued.  The apex bank, further, urged Nigerians to be patient as the current situation would clam down soon with the injection of more banknotes into circulation.