The Conference of Nigerian Political Parties and the Coalition of National Civil Society Organisations, on Monday, criticized the attacks on the Central Bank of Nigeria over the new cash withdrawal limit policy.
At a press conference organized by both organizations in Abuja, National Convener, CNCSO, Willy Ezeugwu, noted that the CBN policy is only limiting cash withdrawals, not digital transactions.
He stressed that the corrupt political elites want to use the poor people as a reason for their agitation to keep Nigeria backward economically.
The groups declared that the policy implementation was eight years overdue, adding that those leading the criticism of the new policy are “insincere politicians who had planned to buy votes during the 2023 elections”.
Ezeugwu also faulted the suspension order issued by the lawmakers, especially, because it had not taken effect.
He said, “The House of Representatives also demanded that Emefiele appears before the lower chamber of the National Assembly, to explain to the House, the impact and significance of the new policy.
“To show that the lawmakers did not mean well, why call for a suspension of a policy that has not taken effect? The new withdrawal policy takes effect in February 2023.
“So, inviting the CBN governor for an explanation would have been the most appropriate step, not to order a suspension of a policy that is yet to take effect.
“This is economic sabotage and we enjoin security agencies to treat this matter with all seriousness as the National Assembly, the pronouncement, is clearly a threat to Nigeria’s economic growth. A good observer can easily identify three categories of people who are critical of the cash withdrawal limits introduced by the CBN.
“They are those who are ignorant of what the policy is about, those who misunderstood the policy and thought that cash withdrawal limit is the same as digital transaction limits, and those who, for political advantage, distort information about the policy to score cheap political points to further their corrupt and anti-people agenda.
“Among the third category of people are mostly politicians who have concealed huge sums of money in their bedrooms and farms for election rigging and vote buying. They are in the same category of critics who complain about the timing, forgetting that the full implementation of the cash-less policy in Nigeria should have taken place in 2014.
“Nigerian lawmakers should have been commending the CBN Governor and his management team rather than vilifying them.
“One of the major problems of Nigeria is lack of policy implementation. Should the country not be standing with a leader who is implementing a well-thought-out policy of the government, which the CBN began phased implementation since 2012?
“As stated earlier, they have argued that N20,000 daily withdrawal limit will subject ordinary citizens to economic hardship. How many Nigerians make over N100,000 withdrawals weekly? This is N400,000 a month. So, how many civil servants legitimately withdraw N400,000 a month, not to mention individuals in obscure villages?
“Recall that in October 2021, the Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation revealed that 99.4 percent of bank accounts contain less than the N500,000 Maximum Insured Limit of the NDIC. The implication of this is that only about 0.6 percent of account holders in our banks have above N500,000 balances in their bank accounts.
“Secondly, this proves that ordinary citizens will not be adversely affected by the new CBN withdrawal limits. Among these few Nigerian bankers with over N500, 000 in their bank accounts are disappointed vote buyers, illicit drug dealers, kidnappers, corrupt politicians, and others with questionable sources of wealth who would not opt for readily transparent or traceable digital payments options.
“We hereby warn members of the National Assembly not to allow themselves to be used by corrupt politicians and their sympathizers in their midst to truncate the progressive cash-less journey in the Nigerian economy. It is an economic crime to do so.
“Therefore, any attempt by the lawmakers to stop the evolution of Nigeria’s cash-less economy and the country’s journey into the top 20 economies in the world will be resisted by the ordinary citizens who have continued to suffer while political leaders continue to feed fat from the poor.
“The House of Representatives and the Senate should cooperate with the Central Bank of Nigeria to make a cash-less economy possible in Nigeria as we shall not fail to mobilize Nigerians to resist the current plot to use them against the ordinary people.”
