By Olusegun Olanrewaju, with an additional report
The newest policy of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) limiting cash withdrawals to particular amounts has sparked mixed reactions from Nigerians both at home and abroad.
This was as the former Education Minister, Oby Ezekwesili, accused the apex financial institution in the country of punishing innocent Nigerians for the sins they never committed.
CBN had on Tuesday announced a policy that limited weekly cash withdrawals over the counter to N100, 000 for individuals and N500, 000 for organisations regardless of their size.
The apex financial institution also limited withdrawal at POS terminals to N20, 000 per day for individuals, stating that the directive would take effect from January 9, 2023.
This development was indicative of CBN’s preparation to effect a change of naira notes in circulation starting from December 15.
According to ‘ripplesnigeria’, Ezekwesili, who commented on the proposed monetary policy in a series of tweets yesterday, described it as disastrous.
She slammed the apex financial institution for making life difficult for ordinary Nigerians.
She wrote, “What is with this constancy of disastrous Monetary Policies by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN)? How did an institution that should model respect for Economic Evidence in Policymaking become an expert on an agent of suffering in this country?
“You know that a policy entity has completely lost the plot when all sound evidence-based tools are abandoned in preference for policy guidelines with the high administrative cost of enforcement and a nightmare for innocent people. Punishing the innocent for the sins of the guilty?”
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*CNPP justifies new cash withdrawal limits
Meanwhile, ahead of the 2023 general elections, the Conference Of Nigeria Political Parties (CNPP) yesterday said that critics of the new cash withdrawal limits imposed by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) are missing the key gains of the policy.
In a statement signed by its Secretary-General, Willy Ezugwu, the CNPP stated that “Nigerians are suffering today because of bad governance and every sacrifice towards getting the right leadership into offices from 2023 is worth it.”
According to him, “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 monetised electoral processes.”
He added, “But any process that will minimise the domination of the Nigerian political space by moneybags and corrupt politicians, is worth whatever sacrifices by the ordinary citizens, who bear the brunt of bad governance the most.
“Secondly, information available in the public domain shows how several million, if not billions, of naira notes got mutilated and became of no use where the country’s thieving leaders stashed the cash, thereby denying the economy, especially the banks the liquidity for productive enterprise.
Ezugwu noted that “Poor fiscal policies in the country, over the years, is as a result of having the wrong persons in public offices due to electoral process that abhors level-playing ground.
“Therefore, the CBN should be commended, rather than criticised, for the fresh cash withdrawal limits.
The CNPP scribe said, “Mr. Godwin Emefiele, as the CBN governor, is unarguably the hero of Nigerian democracy and champion of good governance under the twin policies of redesigning of the naira notes and the reviewed cash withdrawal limits, with perfect timing of the dates for implementations.
The CNPP, he stated, was urging the President Muhammadu Buhari administration, and by extension, all security agencies and anti-graft bodies, “to act swiftly to ensure that no politician or highly placed individual influences banks to circumvent the cash withdrawal policy.”
“We also call on all well-meaning Nigerians to support the CBN policy on cash control as part of efforts to secure the future of the country, particularly ahead of the 2023 general elections,” the CNPP stated.
