BY MAYOWA SAMUEL
Senators were, on Wednesday, divided over plans by the Central Bank of Nigeria to limit cash withdrawal by an individual to N100, 000 and Corporate bodies to N500, 000 weekly from January 9, 2023. The lawmakers specifically kicked against the timing.
Arguing against the proposed policy, the senators said that Nigeria was unripe for it as the rural people would suffer. They described the policy as nonsensical, vague, nebulous and anti- people, just as they warned that it might lead to mass revolt in the rural areas across the country.
The Senate hence issued a fresh order to the apex bank to review the withdrawal limit upwards in response to public outcry.
The Upper Chamber mandated the Senator Uba Sani, APC, Kaduna Central-led Committee on Banking, Insurance and other Financial Institutions to embark on aggressive oversight of the CBN on its commitment to flexible adjustment of the withdrawal limit and periodically report outcome to the Senate.
The Senate however supported the CBN in the continuous implementation of transformational payments and financial industry initiatives in line with its mandate and in accordance with the CBN Act.
Resolutions of the Senate on Wednesday were sequel to the adoption of the report of Banking, Insurance and other Financial Institutions after a heated debate by Senators on the proposed policy.
In his presentation of the report, Sani argued that the planned cash withdrawal limit was well conceived by the CBN for transformation of the nation’s economy and that the action fell within the mandate of the apex bank as provided for in section 2(d) and 47 of its extant Act.
According to him, the implementation of the cashless policy in six states resulted in reduction in the cost of currency management by 15.20 per cent, from N36 97 billion to N31.35 billion, between 2013 and 2014.
