By Chike Nnamani
When the now suspended CBN governor, Godwin Emefiele, announced in October 2022 of a new naira policy which included cash withdrawal limits; it was greeted with mixed reactions from Nigerians. Initially, many people welcomed the idea especially going by the reasons given by the apex bank - that over 75 percent of cash could not be traced within the banking system, indicating that trillions of naira were hoarded by some persons and not in circulation. I, as a person, had welcomed the idea since I had reasoned it could be instrumental in tackling corruption, terrorism, kidnapping and other vices that require payment of huge amount of money in cash as ransoms. Criminals would not accept e-transactions as it could be traced to their accounts or that of their accomplices, I had reasoned.
However, trouble started when, during the implementation, after the January 31, 2023 deadline, Nigerians could not access the new notes claimed to have been printed by the CBN, from their banks. Recall that CBN had increased the withdrawal limits to 500,000 and 5 million naira per week for individuals and corporate bodies respectively. But many Nigerians could not access beyond 2,000 cash daily from their banks, thus causing pains and increasing frustrations to so many Nigerians. Most banks claimed not to have cash to dispense to their endless waiting customers. The frustrations reached a crescendo where people began to tear their clothes and strip naked in the banking halls as a sign of protest to their frustrations. Angry customers and mobs went as far as attacking the staff of some banks and attempted to set their premises ablaze out of frustration.
The only observation I made, I must confess, which is very commendable, was that there was no single case of kidnapping for ransom anywhere in the country during the short-lived policy.
Now, inasmuch as I had applauded this policy at the onset, I had critic why it came at a wrong time: Why it came close to an election; and why it would be done in a fire brigade approach. I believed that monentary issues of such dimension require considerable length of time, like six or more months to implement, and not what you'll do in a hurry using only one or two months. In 2005, during the banking consolidation in Soludo's era, Soludo gave ample time for all banks to re-capitalize before withdrawing the licenses of those that failed.
Also having being cynical, I had queried in some fora that if Emefiele had won the APC Presidential Primaries in June 2022, would he (the CBN) had gone ahead to implement this policy before the general election? It was absurd and unheard of for a CBN governor to procure a political party's nomination form while still sitting in such position. That financial institution is so sensitive as to conflict the interest of its head with its policy formation for the nation.
It was this thoughts and more that made me come to a conclusion that this policy was made to stop one of the presidential candidates, whom the 'power brokers' in the Presidential villa never wanted, from winning. It's a public knowledge that Emefiele was a favoured candidate of one of the tripartite forces that ruled Nigeria in the President Buharis' administration. So getting him to answer to some questions on his activities and allegations against him in the apex bank is a welcome development, provided he would be given a fair hearing as justice demands.
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