Out of the blue, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) announced the imposition of new cash withdrawal limits on individuals and organisations, which will take effect from January 9, 2023. What political tone does this cashless policy have on the giant of Africa, Nigeria?
On Tuesday, the CBN issued a memo to banks directing that individuals will only be able to withdraw N100,000 per week (from over-the-counter, point-of-sale machines or automated teller machines).
At the same time, organisations will access N500,000 per week.
According to the memo signed by the CBN's Director of Banking Supervision, Haruna Mustafa, banks are to load only N200 and lower denominations into their ATMs.
This means Nigerians can only withdraw N20,000 per day from ATMs when the directive becomes effective.
Though the development has generated both commendation and pushback, it has political effects that AllNews Nigeria's politics desk will highlight.
The electoral fraud of vote buying is a recurrent national problem bedevilling Nigeria's democracy.
If there is one positive from this development, it is that it reduces the amount of raw cash desperate politicians will carry on election day.
Vote buying has been part of Nigeria's electoral history.
In the fourth public, it became much more energised and politically legitimate.
Now that organisations per week will subsequently be able to withdraw N100,000 and N500,000, withdrawals above these limits would attract processing fees of 5 per cent and 10 per cent respectively.
The wave of carrying cash around to buy people's votes on election day will drastically reduce.
Only the deadly politician would go all out for vote buying, ignoring the red flags.
The new development would allow potential voters to vote with open minds.
When you see someone young enough to be your last child spray cash at campaign grounds or election venues, you might feel disinterested in the political process altogether.
Sources in the rural communities told AllNews Nigeria correspondents how unhappy they feel during election periods when billionaires from the city would come to "intimidate' their conscience and choice with money hard to come by for them.
They said it is difficult for them not to be swayed by the ploy of the moneybags when they see much cash with them.
It is no gainsaying that some politicians in Nigeria launder public wealth abroad.
An initiative such as this could help reduce the extent to which the perpetrators succeed in their actions.
The CBN warned banks that any bank that would aid and abet the circumvention of this policy would attract severe sanctions.
So, it remains to be seen if politicians would have their way of influencing this decision and laundering money abroad if the stern position of the CBN is anything to go by.
Even if they laundered public funds, it wouldn't be as easy as it has been.
Even though a former President of the Association of National Accountants of Nigeria, Dr Sam Nzekwe, said that the CBN, in limiting withdrawals, was trying to reduce cash in circulation and drive financial inclusion, which was not a bad thing to do, some Nigerians, mainly POS operators, think the new policy is a political game and that they are at the losing end of the contest.
As soon as the directive was made public, the National President of the Association of Mobile Money and Bank Agents of Nigeria, Victor Olojo, said that point-of-sale operators would plan to protest as the policy targeted killing their source of livelihood.
When contacted, Olojo explained that the newly announced policy would harm their business as it translated to the shutting down of PoS terminals.
Other critics think that the policy is a hypocritic one.
"Why do they have to wait till this moment before implementing the policy?", Saheed Atakankan queried.
To many, if the policy was for improving the country's national development, why does the government have to wait until the eleventh hour before implementing it?
Esther David in Ibadan told our correspondent that the policy is another excuse by President Muhammadu Buhari's administration to say it did its best to deliver on its mandate.
The president had earlier tasked Nigerians to hold the governors accountable for some structural failures in the country, such as the ineffectiveness of the Local Government Areas in Nigeria and their administration.
Indeed, the policy has both positive and negative ripple effects. It depends on the area and views you want to look at it from.
But as good as it is, Nigerians are politically worried that it came at the tail end of President Muhammadu Buhari's political reign.
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