Scrolling through Facebook recently, I came across two contrasting images: one person appealing for financial assistance to pay medical bills, and another showing bundles of naira being sprayed on a musician at a social event.
The contrast was striking. But beyond the social commentary lies an interesting legal question:
Does spraying a bundle of naira notes amount to “spraying” under Nigerian law?
The answer requires a look at section 21 of the Central Bank of Nigeria Act 2007.
What does the law say?
Section 21 prohibits the abuse of naira notes and coins. It specifically identifies acts such as mutilating, writing on, tearing, soiling, squeezing or otherwise abusing the currency.
More importantly, section 21(3) expressly provides that “spraying of, dancing or matching on the Naira” at social occasions constitutes an abuse and defacing of the currency.
The provision does not stop there.
Section 21(5)(ii) defines “spraying” broadly to include adorning, decorating or spraying anything or any person with naira notes or coins, as well as sprinkling or sticking the notes or coins in a similar manner, regardless of the amount, occasion or intent.
This wording is important.
What about a bundle?
Consider two situations.
In the first, a person takes individual naira notes and throws them over a musician or celebrant.
In the second, the person takes a bundle of naira notes, keeps the notes together and uses the bundle to decorate, adorn or place money on the musician or celebrant.
Is the second situation legally different from the first?
Not necessarily.
The law does not define spraying simply as throwing individual notes into the air. It expressly includes adorning and decorating a person with naira notes and sprinkling or sticking the notes in a similar manner.
Therefore, the fact that the notes are held together in a bundle does not, by itself, remove the conduct from the statutory definition of spraying.
What matters is what the person does with the money.
Simply possessing a bundle of naira is not an offence under section 21. Neither should merely holding or displaying legitimately obtained cash automatically amount to currency abuse.
But where the bundle is used to adorn, decorate, sprinkle or stick naira on another person at a social occasion, there is a strong textual basis for treating the conduct as “spraying” under the Act.
But criminal law demands caution
There is an important legal principle here.
Section 36(12) of the 1999 Constitution provides that nobody may be convicted of a criminal offence unless the offence and its penalty are prescribed in a written law.
Criminal statutes are therefore not to be expanded merely because particular conduct appears objectionable.
The question is whether the conduct falls within the actual words used by the legislature.
In this case, section 21(5)(ii) gives the word “spraying” a sufficiently broad statutory meaning to cover more than the traditional throwing of individual notes.
The law is already being enforced
This is not merely an academic prohibition.
In Oluwadarasimi Omoseyin’s case, the Federal High Court in Lagos convicted the actress in 2024 after she pleaded guilty to spraying and stepping on naira notes at a social event. She was sentenced to six months’ imprisonment with an option of a ₦300,000 fine.
The case demonstrates that the prohibition against naira abuse is being enforced.
So, does the bundle make a difference?
In my view, the bundle itself does not provide a legal escape from the prohibition.
A person cannot necessarily avoid the law simply by keeping several naira notes together before using them to adorn or decorate another person.
But the distinction remains important: possession of a bundle is not the offence; the manner in which the bundle is used may constitute the offence.
Nigeria’s social culture may have normalised the spraying of money at weddings, birthdays, naming ceremonies and other celebrations. But cultural acceptance does not automatically make conduct lawful.
The question is therefore not whether spraying money has become socially acceptable.
The question is whether the particular conduct falls within what section 21 of the CBN Act prohibits.
On the wording of the law, using a bundle of naira to adorn or decorate a person at a social occasion can fall within the statutory concept of “spraying.”
The bundle may look different.
The legal question, however, is what you do with it.
Adenitan Akinola is a legal practitioner and journalist. He writes from Ikere Ekiti, Ekiti State.
THE NAIRA FOR THE FEW? HOW DO FRESH BUNDLES FIND THEIR WAY TO SOCIALITES AND MONEY TRADERS?
By Adenitan Akinola, Esq.
There is something about the Nigerian naira that has increasingly puzzled me.
New naira notes seem increasingly difficult to find in ordinary circulation, particularly around festive periods. Yet, at the same time, social media is awash with videos of socialites spraying seemingly fresh bundles of ₦1,000, ₦500 and ₦200 notes at parties.
Then there is another interesting phenomenon: the growing presence of naira traders at social events, people who appear to move from party to party, offering to change ordinary cash into fresh notes for those who want to spray.
This raises a simple but important question:
How do large quantities of new naira notes get into the hands of a relatively small group of socialites and money traders when ordinary citizens often struggle to obtain clean notes in Banks?
I am not suggesting that every person seen with new naira notes has done anything unlawful. Social-media videos, by themselves, cannot establish that.
But the disparity is striking enough to deserve regulatory attention.
Where do new notes go?
The Central Bank of Nigeria is the sole issuer of Nigeria’s legal tender. According to the CBN, newly printed notes are distributed from the Nigerian Security Printing and Minting facility to CBN branches, from where they are supplied to deposit money banks and ultimately released to the public through withdrawals.
The CBN’s Clean Note Policy is also designed to ensure that new and fit banknotes are properly issued, recirculated and maintained in good condition.
But visit a bank today to withdraw a substantial amount of cash and the experience can sometimes be very different. Instead of crisp, clean notes, customers may receive worn, dirty or taped notes.
Then, on social media, we see bundles of apparently fresh notes being sprayed at lavish parties. Something deserves explanation. And then there are the money traders. Perhaps even more curious is the apparent business around fresh naira notes at social functions. At some parties, individuals offer to exchange cash for cleaner or newer notes, of course for a premium. This should interest regulators.
The CBN itself states that it is illegal to sell mint naira notes to the public. Its current banknote-handling guidance also identifies selling or trading naira notes for more than their face value as unlawful. The question, therefore, is not simply whether a person who pays ₦100,000 to obtain ₦90,000 worth of fresh notes is doing something wrong.
The bigger question is:
From where did those fresh notes come in the first place? Who supplied them?
Through which financial institution or cash channel? How frequently are particular individuals obtaining large quantities of new notes?
And how do these notes move from the formal banking system into the hands of socialites and money traders?
These are questions that require evidence, not speculation. But they are legitimate questions for the CBN and other relevant authorities to investigate.
What about spraying the bundle?
The law itself is relatively clear on spraying. Section 21 of the Central Bank of Nigeria Act 2007 prohibits abuse of the naira and specifically identifies spraying, dancing or stepping on the currency during social occasions as an offence. Section 21(5)(ii) also gives “spraying” a broad meaning, including adorning or decorating a person with naira notes or coins.
Therefore, the fact that the notes are kept together in a bundle does not necessarily make the conduct lawful. If the bundle is used to adorn or decorate a person, there is a strong basis for treating it as spraying within the meaning of the law.
But possessing a bundle of new naira is not, by itself, an offence. The more difficult question is how that bundle came into the person’s possession.
The bigger regulatory question
Perhaps we have concentrated too much on the person spraying the naira and too little on the journey of the naira before it gets to the party.
If ordinary Nigerians are finding it increasingly difficult to obtain clean, new notes through legitimate banking channels, while substantial quantities of fresh notes are apparently available to some socialites and money traders, the distribution chain deserves scrutiny.
The CBN has a responsibility not only to issue the currency but also to regulate its circulation and maintain public confidence in the naira. Its own Clean Note Policy recognises the importance of ensuring that banknotes in circulation are of acceptable quality.
Perhaps what is required is stronger monitoring of the movement of new notes from the CBN to deposit money banks and from banks into the wider economy.
Unusual large-volume withdrawals of new notes, repeated access to particular denominations and the activities of persons trading fresh notes at social events may all deserve closer regulatory examination.
The question we should be asking
If new naira notes are scarce in ordinary circulation, how do bundles of them keep finding their way to the same social circles and money traders at parties? That is not an accusation. It is a question.
And perhaps it is time the CBN and other relevant agencies provided Nigerians with an answer, not only through enforcement against those who abuse the naira, but also through greater transparency and stronger regulation of the currency-distribution chain.
The naira belongs to all Nigerians.
Adenitan Akinola is a legal practitioner and journalist. He writes from Ikere Ekiti, Ekiti State.
