Naira Scarcity: "CBN's Ill-Timed Policy Affected My Campaign," Female House of Reps Candidate Laments
- With less than a week to the general elections, Nigerians have been urged to remain peaceful and shun violence
- This was the submission of Barr. Juliet I. IKhayere, who reflected on the shortcomings of the CBN naira policy
- She also reeled out how the naira redesign and scarcity of new notes affected her campaign
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FCT, Abuja - Amid the persistent scarcity of new naira notes, mixed reactions continue to trail the new policy of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to redesign the naira notes.
Reacting to this development, Barrister Juliet Isi Ikhayere, the African Democratic Congress (ADC)'s House of Representatives candidate for AMAC/Bwari constituency in the FCT, said the CBN's policy was ill-timed.
Source: Facebook
In an exclusive interview with Legit.ng, she noted that Nigerians need more time to prepare for digital banking. In turn, the lack of preparedness for the policy has affected a lot of monetary transactions across the federation.
She said:
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"It was a quick decision. Nigerians did not plan to transit into this phase of internet banking."
Ikhayere also faulted the digital service delivery of banks, referring to the USSD mode of transactions as needing to be more efficient in serving Nigerians, considering the cashless situation the country has been pushed into.
She further noted that the economic impact of the policy could have been healthier if well timed, but it has reduced sales in commodities due to the lack of trust in the digital banking method.
How the new naira policy affected my campaign - Bar. Ikhayere
When asked if the current situation affected her campaign, she said:
"So there's been a whole lot of hardship. Money policy has actually affected us as a people. And for myself, it has affected my campaign.
"There are good people out there. The politician who wants to actually effect a change is also a human being. Also, the ones who are bad to call their shots do not just label everybody because these are the reasons why a lot of young people like myself are not into the race.
"It has actually been very difficult, mobilizing people to come follow me around to sensitize people has been difficult.
"Bringing them out of their day to day businesses to actually tell them to sensitize for you, move around, tell people about you. It's finance consuming, it's money consuming."
As for the CBN, she stated that the apex bank had the luxury of eight years to plan and meditate on its current policy and ease Nigerians of the current hardship they are facing.
Ikhayere, who acknowledged the motive of the policy as a technique to curb vote-buying and kidnapping, said security agencies should have been a veritable alternative.
She said:
"The issue of vote buying can actually be tamed and my advice going forward is that in election process, surveillance systems have to be provided to prevent vote buying.
"The security personnel can actually be stationed closed by the cubicle to monitor agents that come out to exchange vote for money because they have to see who the people vote for when they are close to the cubicle to give money."
Meanwhile, she called on Nigerians to keep calm, stating that violence would not resolve the current situation, instead, she recommended dialoguing with the major players of the policy.
She also noted that Nigerians could take their grievances to the polls and elect competent individuals across all strata of government to implement policies that will benefit Nigeria positively.
2023 Polls: “I Need To Have This N70m in Hard Copy”: Influential APC Lawmaker Laments Persistent Cash Scarcity
Meanwhile, a chieftain of the ruling All Progressive Congress (APC) has come out to lament the scarcity of the naira.
Hon. Alhassan Ado Doguwa says the scarcity of the naira would affect politicians negatively, with the election coming up in less than a week.
Doguwa said he needs N70 million in cash to carry out his campaign before the campaign calendar closes.
2023: Bola Tinubu Risks Losing Kano Over APC Crisis, Says Hon Ado-Doguwa
In another development, there are fears that the ruling All Progressives Congress may lose the presidential election in Kano state during the 2023 elections.
Alhassan Ado Doguwa, prominent APC chieftain in the northwest state and House of Reps majority leader says the Kano APC has been hijacked.
The federal lawmaker stated that the running of the party has been left in the hands of those causing problems from the Kano APC.
Source: Legit.ng
