The Coalition of Northern Groups has supported the National Assembly’s resolve to compel the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to suspend the implementation of its cash withdrawal limit policy. The group’s spokesperson, Abdul-Azeez Suleiman, said this at a news conference on Wednesday in Abuja.

Mr Suleiman said the group backed the National Assembly’s resolve to compel the CBN governor, Godwin Emefiele, to suspend the policy, expressing CNG’s worry about the imminent crises the policy might cause, especially to unbanked northerners.

The CNG spokesman claimed that the policy would impact negatively on the livelihood of many individuals and enterprises.

“The CNG notes that the timing without adequate preparation and sensitisation of the critical mass that drives the economy (the SMEs and MSMEs) could prove counterproductive and further drive many below the poverty line,” Mr Suleiman explained. “We also note that the banking infrastructure and mobile/digital facility to drive the cashless policy in Nigeria and in the North, in particular, are not sufficiently developed.”

According to him, the current cashless payment channels are insufficient to meet the policy’s demand which is complicated by a lack of financial infrastructure. He further cited that the policy was vulnerable to fraud.

“Whereas electricity is a critical infrastructure for an efficient e-payment system, regrettably, Nigeria cannot boast of consistent power supply in both urban and rural areas, which will undoubtedly make seamless transactions difficult,” said the CNG. “Because of the technology involved, some level of literacy is required to operate successfully in a cashless economy.”

The group also expressed concern about “a high rate of illiteracy.”

“The size of Nigeria’s informal economy is vast, estimated to be 57.7 per cent of the total size. By rapidly withdrawing most cash from the market without an alternative widely used system being available will smash the economy,” Mr Suleiman explained.

He said that the policy would also make it difficult for the larger population in the North to transact businesses effectively because of the inadequate banking system.

“The policy will most certainly take away the jobs of thousands of young people operating POS at a time Nigeria is battling serious unemployment, particularly among the young population. The new policy will worsen the already tight economic environment, especially in communities with blind spots or poor network connectivity,” added the CNG.

The group also warned that the policy would likely cause disrupt the economy, especially in rural areas where bank branches are few and telecommunication networks very weak.

“Small and medium enterprises (SMEs) that have small working capital tend to hold most of it in cash to keep their businesses running. With the inflation rate hovering around 20 per cent and over 100 million Nigerians in multidimensional poverty, the worst scenario would be to allow the government to further cripple the economic activities of Nigerians with this unfavourable CBN policy,” said CNG.

Mr Suleiman said the coalition would take further actions to stop the CBN from implementing the policy.

(NAN)