The 2023 elections are under intense threat by the cash policy of the Central Bank of Nigeria as the Independent Electoral Commission is yet to access the needed cash to prepare for the presidential polls coming up on February 25.
The cash crisis created by the redesigning policy of the financial regulatory agency has left most Nigerians frustrated as they battle to access their money but the matter has been compounded by the statement credited to the CBN Governor Godwin Emefiele that the February 10 deadline date for the old naira notes was still standing.
With about 10 days before the general elections, the electoral umpire is yet to access cash to perform its role and the INEC is now considering seeking approval from President Muhammadu Buhari for the postponement of the polls, Iwitnesslive has learnt.
Although Emefiele had earlier promised to make cash available for the electoral body when the INEC Chairman Prof. Mahmood Yakubu paid him a courtesy visit about two weeks ago. He had said he wouldn’t want CBN to be seen as an agent used to thwart the polls.
However, the Resident Electoral Commissioner for the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Alhaji Yahaya Bello raised the alarm on the cash status when he confirmed that the money had not been released yet with just 10 days to the polls.
He said the INEC was ready to conduct the polls but the unavailability of cash is now posing threat to the conduct of the exercise. He said the body can’t coordinate security and logistics without cash urging the CBN to do needful.
“Before election day, we are going to deploy the service providers. On the night of Friday (the day before the election) in the FCT, we have more than 12, 000 ad-hoc staff that we are going to give cash to.
“None of them will receive a cheque or accept a transfer. I am talking about FCT (12,000), which will require about N5,000 (each) cash on Friday night. Also, those who are going to transport our men, materials and security to the polling units will need cash to do that.
“Also, you will not take a security person to a polling unit from morning till evening without giving him money to eat and I don’t think you expect him to go to the POS to withdraw the N1,000 you are going to give him.
“This policy does not affect only INEC FCT in particular. It is going to affect the whole commission nationwide. So, the chairman of the commission, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu met with the CBN governor, they also consulted and briefed the National Council of States and the Presidency.
“This is an issue that is being tackled at the highest level because it affects the whole election generally. For now, we are going to wait for the outcome of the negotiations and discussions that are ongoing. So that we will know exactly what is going on.”
