Nigeria’s Conference of Nigeria Political Parties (CNPP) has urged those criticizing the country’s new Central Bank (CBN) monetary policy, which is set to limit cash withdrawals to 100,000 naira ($225) per week instead of 2.5 million naira ($5,638), to look at the bright side of the policy and wait for its foreseen gains.
In a statement issued by CNPP’s Secretary General Willy Ezugwu, the coalition of opposition parties said that the Nigerian people are “suffering” as a result of “bad governance”, arguing that the new cash policy, which is set to apply starting January 9, 2023, was a small sacrifice towards getting the right leadership into office in the upcoming general elections next February.
“Bad governance is a product of Nigeria’s flawed electoral processes over the years, which threw bad and corrupt leaders on the masses. This became the case as a result of highly monetized electoral processes,” Ezugwu said. “But any process that will minimize the domination of the Nigerian political space by moneybags and corrupt politicians is worth whatever sacrifices (are made) by the ordinary citizens, who bear the brunt of bad governance the most.”
Ezugwu suggested the Nigerians applaud the new cash policy, calling on the government of Muhammadu Buhari, who's second term is going to end in May 2023, to ensure that no politician or high-ranking individual influences banks in a way that would violate the CBN’s new cash withdrawal policy.
On Tuesday, the CBN announced a new monetary policy that seeks to limit cash withdrawals for both individuals and corporate customers. The CBN directive, set to be applied from January 9, 2023, suggests a 100,000 naira ($225) weekly limit of cash withdrawals for individual customers and a limit of 500,000 naira ($1125) for corporate customers.
According to the policy, any other withdrawals above the listed limits are expected to include a 5% or 10% commission for individuals and corporate customers respectively after filling in necessary forms, where they will need to provide details on how the cash would be spent, and get approvals from bank managers.
However, other types of cashless uses of money are not going to be affected by the CBN’s new limitations.
The Central Bank’s policy was met with harsh criticism, with the Nigerian National Assembly asking CBN Governor Godwin Emefiele to testify and explain the details of the new policy.