The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has vowed to take action against those buying dollar with the naira.

CBN Governor, Godwin Emefiele on Tuesday, July 19 threatened to arrest and prosecute any Nigerian caught using naira to buy dollars.

He made the threat at the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting in Lagos.

He said: "For those taking money from banks to buy dollars, it is illegal to do so. If the security agencies hold you, you will know the implication of that."

Mr Emefiele urged Nigerians illegally exchanging naira for dollar to stop, adding that the apex bank would conduct investigations and bar those found culpable from conducting transactions in Nigerian banks.

He added: "We will conduct investigations, and we will have proof, and you will not be able to conduct transactions in any Nigerian bank. We will place 'post no debit' on the defaulting customer’s account. It is a very injurious tool to stop you from conducting illegal flows, either domestic or foreign currency."