The Lagos State House of Assembly has described the Central Bank of Nigeria’s (CBN) cashless policy as ill-timed, obnoxious and anti-people.

According to the lawmakers, the naira redesign policy of the CBN has brought mass suffering on Nigerians, while the economy remains in danger.

The lawmakers further noted that even though the policy was a good one, its timing was wrong as it had further thrown the country into economic chaos.

This follows the CBN’s extension of the deadline for currency swap at the weekend by 10 days. 

During Thursday plenary, Rotimi Olowo, representing Shomolu constituency I, moved a motion under matter of urgent public importance, calling the attention of the House to the hardship being caused by the policy.

He lamented that Nigerians were going through difficulty in accessing cash, arguing that the situation may snowball into something bigger. 

He, therefore, prayed the House to join him in calling for an extension in the implementation of the policy.

“I sat down to look at the CBN cashless policy and the timing, it is ill-timed, obnoxious and anti-people.

“Nobody is looking at our mother in the village who are into petty trading who transact business with cash on daily bases, same with MSMEs. 

“How do they access money. POS has offered form of employment to unemployed youths who earn a living through this, they are out of job with this new policy.”

Mr Olowo said the banking system did not encourage savings because the system is riddled with fraud when it comes to all manners of illegal charges and there was no incentive for savings as it is in other saner climes.

“We ask that the implementation of the policy be postponed until July 2023. We do not even have the IT infrastructure in place to support a cashless policy”, he prayed.

A lawmaker representing Alimosh constituency, Bisi Yusuf, also lamented the corruption around the availability of the new naira notes. 

He questioned why banks made the money available to some individuals, for the purpose of trading with it.

Another lawmaker representing Ifako-Ijaiye II, Raheed Makinde, expressed worry over how the hardship created by the policy has painted the All Progressive Congress (APC) in bad light, being the party in power.

Meanwhile, the speaker of the House, Mudashiru Obasa, noted that the concern of the lawmakers had to do with the pains, anguish and anger spreading among Nigerians over their inability to access the new currency.

“Economists have said most times you cannot use new currency to control inflation, it doesn’t achieve the purpose most times,” Mr Obasa said. 

He added that the intention of the policy as claimed by CBN had been defeated owing to the various complaints from experts and people across the country.

The speaker said the CBN should have engaged stakeholders and citizens adequately carried along, rather than an ‘over-night’ policy by the CBN.

“There are people in the rural areas. It is obvious that the additional 10 days is not even going to be enough.

“The idea is a good one but the way it is being implemented will have an adverse effect on the people.

“We need to commend the National Assembly for showing quality representation and prompt action to intervene for an extension of the deadline,” he said.

On his part, Richard Kasunmu, representing Ikeja II, faulted the timing of the policy, especially as the country was still grappling with poor internet connections.

He recalled how he spent five hours a day earlier trying to make an electronic transfer of N55,000 to resolve an emergency situation.

The motion was passed by the speaker after a voice vote of all the members at the sitting.