Follow Us on Google
From Ndubuisi Orji, Abuja
Opposition political parties has expressed delight over the plan by the Central Bank of Nigeria ( CBN) to redesign the N200, N500 and N1,000 notes, ahead of the 2023 polls,
The national chairman of the Action Alliance ( AA), Kenneth Udeze, in a statement, on behalf of the opposition political parties, said the redesign of the currency will help to curb vote buying in the 2023 general elections.
The CBN had, on Wednesday, announced plans to redesign higher denominations of the national, with January 31,2023 as the deadline for phase out for the current of N200, N500 and N1000 notes.
However, the opposition parties charged the apex bank to stick to the deadline, noting that the policy in addition to the use of the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System ( BVAS) will enhance the credibility of the 2023 general elections.
According to them, “as leaders of political parties in Nigeria and concerned that there is an impending general election within the next four months, we viewed the policy from the prism of its effect and implications on the election and on that basis we praise the policy on issuance on new banknotes.
“This support for the policy is on the basis that the apex bank insists on not shifting the deadline date of 31st January, 2023. We urge the people of Nigeria to stand with the CBN Governor and demand that the set date becomes sacrosanct. There is nothing like the window is too short. It does not require a month for one to take money to the bank except there is something they are hiding.
“With the cleaning of the voter register which INEC has done, the deployment of the BVAS and now with the fatal blow on vote buying, Nigerians can have confidence that the 2023 elections will be free and fair.
“All the cash which has been stashed in various warehouses will now have to go back to the banks and we urge that the CBN also resists pressure to print large volume of cash. Electronic transfer of money should be encouraged now and we call on all relevant security agencies to be vigilant in identifying politicians who have questions to answer when the return billions which they cannot explain their sources. Whistleblowers should also be on the lookout because many tanks, private vaults and cases where Naira had been stashed in the past will be opened soon.
“It is our expectation also that having obtained the approval of the President to implement this very laudable policy, the ruling party makes a commitment not to put pressure on the leadership of the apex bank to alter the deadline as it will go to the root of the integrity of the election and the validity of the results which will emerge from it.”
“
