By Harry Awurumibe, Editor Abuja Bureau
Amidst arguments by political elites over the Cashless Policy of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) especially the redesigning of the naira and the N20,000 withdrawal limits placed on individual account holders, a legal practitioner cum social activist, Mike Igini has said those opposing the new policy do not mean well for Nigeria.
Igini who is the immediate past
IndependentNational Electoral Commission (INEC) Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) of Akwa Ibom state spoke on Channels Television breakfast programme Sunrise Daily on the topic ‘2023 General Election’ monitored in Abuja on Monday.
According to him “it’s not surprising that the biggest opposition for the CBN’s new Cashless Policy is coming from the Nigerian political elites who are doing that for obvious reasons but are hidding under the pretext of fighting for the poor masses. This is most unfortunate”.
The outspoken former REC argued that the CBN Cashless Policy is highly welcome at this time as it will help to an extent to curb some of the envisaged electoral malpractice ahead of the 2023 general election including vote buying before and during the elections.
Igini therefore called on CBN Governor, Godwin Emefiele and his team to ignore the lamentations of the politicians that the policy will hurt the common man, stressing that the political class are opposing it for their selfish interest.
Said he: “I am even calling on the President of Federal Republic of Nigeria Muhammadu Buhari to go a step further to issue an Executive Order declaring a Cashless Elections Day Policy. By this it will become a criminal offence for any politician to carry huge cash around on election days”.
“In fact, it’s shameful for the elites to be using the names of the poor to oppose the CBN Cashless Policy. I can say it again that they are not fighting for the poor but for themselves. I am convinced that if politicians are starved of huge cash on election days it will reduce the influence of money on the electorates”.
Meanwhile, the ex-fiery REC has poured cold water on the arguments that some politicians are buying Permanent Voter Cards (PVC) from the public, arguing that it will be efforts in futility as they will not be able to use it in election days.
Said he: “Section 47 of Electoral Act 2022 specify that no voter can approach a Polling Unit without a PVC. Also, if anyone comes forward to be accredited to vote, the person must undergo the process of verification by Bio-modal Verification Accreditation System (BVAS) using both/or facial and fingerprints”.
He therefore urged Nigerians to be vigilant and protect their votes, insisting that the 2023 elections will be won or lost in Polling Units hence Nigerians should come out in their numbers to vote for the candidates of their choice but most importantly candidates who are capable of delivery the dividends of democracy including good governance and reduction of poverty in Nigeria.
