The House of Representatives has asked the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to immediately put on hold the planned implementation of its new policy on revised cash withdrawal limits for individuals and corporate organizations pending the conclusion of its ongoing appraisal of the policy measure.
The lawmakers in the lower chamber of the National Assembly, who appeared worried about the measure, also summoned the CBN Governor, Godwin Emefiele, to appear before it over the new policy, which is expected to take effect on January 9, 2023.
The House of Representatives’ position on the policy measure, which has been generating serious controversies in the public domain since the announcement by the apex bank, came barely 24 hours after Senators had also expressed concerns about the policy.
The Senate President, Sen. Ahmed Lawan, had cautioned the apex bank not to implement the policy at once as many Nigerians will be negatively affected by doing so.
To ensure adequate assessment of the new policy, the Senate President asked the Committee on Banking and Finance to take up the matter with the two Deputy Governor-nominees of the CBN during their screening.
The Green Chamber passed a resolution asking the CBN Governor to suspend the implementation of the cash withdrawal limits policy during a plenary session on Thursday, following the adoption of a motion of urgent public importance moved by Sen. Aliyu Magaji, a lawmaker from Jigawa.
Sen. Magaji and the majority of the lawmakers opposed the policy, saying that it is too harsh and will negatively impact on the well-being of the poor majority residing in the rural areas.
While leading the debate on the motion, Sen. Magaji pointed out that small businesses remained the key drivers of the Nigerian economy and that most of them operate their businesses, trade and other transactions in physical cash and are in most cases, not inclined to the use of electronic banking system being not too financially literate.
The lawmaker expatiated: “These set of Nigerians who are the drivers of Nigeria’s economy will be seriously negatively affected and their business and source of livelihood may be seriously impaired with these new directives of CBN.
“The new policies rolled out by CBN will hurt the already dwindling economy, and further weakens the value of Nigeria as Nigerians may resolve to use dollars and other currencies as a means of trading and thus further de valued Naira and weakens the economy.”
In his contribution to the motion, Sen. Aminu Suleiman, pointed out that the apex bank issued the directive without taking into consideration Nigerians in remote and rural areas, adding that the lawmakers may be voted out by their constituents if they fail to intervene and demand that the CBN suspend the policy.
He explained: “This could be an exit board for many of us if we allow this radical decision to succeed and there my voice must be heard on this.
“There are several government chief executives in this country that have outlived the essence of their positions because I cannot simply understand how we can wake up one day and introduce this draconian approach to businesses, giving Nigerians one month to adjust their belts.
“I think that beyond rhetoric we should search our books and impose necessary legislation to ensure we arrest the situation, we have more powers and we can look into the powers of the CBN and remove the excess powers for us that we can act on behalf of Nigerians”, the lawmaker added.
However, while contributing to the motion, the Green Chamber’s minority leader, Hon. Ndudi Elumelu, opposed the motion, describing the policy as the most desirable step taken so far by the monetary authorities to tackle banditry, kidnapping and other crimes that involved the payment of ransoms in cash.
The lawmaker said: “On the issues of cashless policy, I think that is the best thing that can happen to this country even though the timing might be difficult, we may ask for an extension of time for it to be well implemented.
“If there is a cashless policy and people use their phones to transfer money, some of such things will not happen and that is the truth”, Elumelu added.
