The governor of Adamawa, Ahmadu Fintiri, claims that the political class is the target of the Central Bank of Nigeria’s (CBN) new cash withdrawal limit policy.
The top bank’s governor, Godwin Emefiele, set restrictions on weekly cash withdrawals for both private citizens and businesses on Tuesday.
The new rule, which will go into effect on January 9, 2023, is intended to reduce the quantity of physical cash in circulation and promote more electronic-based transactions, according to the apex bank.
According to Daily Trust, Fintiri made this statement on Friday during a campaign event in Kala’a, in the state’s Hong local government district.
He claimed that it was obvious that the political elite was the focus of the policy.
The governor added that Emefiele decided to hunt politicians after failing in his attempt to join the political elite.
“What causes poverty to breed? economic regulations. Look at the one the Central Bank is planning to enact, which would further plunge the nation into poverty, he remarked.
“No one is advocating against the economy going cashless. Spend some time and proceed methodically. We shouldn’t act as though certain people were denied the chance to become politicians and then used their position to retaliate against the politicians.”
If the federal government is being accused of doing what the governors are allegedly doing, then we expect the government to correct the anomaly by sponsoring an amendment to the Nigerian constitution to separate the office of the accountant general of the federation from the accountant general of the federal government.
This will prevent funds belonging to local government and the state from also being converted by the federal government.
Fintiri also responded to President Muhammadu Buhari’s remarks that governors hinder national growth by fiddling with local government funding.
He contends that the federal government is the main offender in the theft of funds from local and state governments.
