‘It will check vote buying’ — Arewa group backs CBN’s cash withdrawal policy

A northern group known as the Arewa Youth Assembly has thrown its weight behind the cash withdrawal policy of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).

Recently, the apex bank, under the new policy, fixed weekly cash withdrawals for individuals at N100,000 and corporate bodies at N500,000.

Maximum cash withdrawal at POS terminals has also been reduced to N20,000 daily. The policy is expected to take effect nationwide from January 9, 2023.

Addressing a press conference in Abuja on Tuesday, Ali Muhammad, publicity secretary of the group, said many politicians have plans to stockpile cash for “nefarious purposes”.

“To forestall the future harbouring of naira notes by individuals, the central bank came up with another policy pegging N100,000 and N500,000 as the maximum cash individuals and corporate organisations respectively can withdraw weekly,” Muhammad said.

“This policy will also help to checkmate the incidences of vote buying, which is the greatest threat to fair and credible elections in 2023.”

The publicity secretary said the country’s economy is faring better than that of neighbouring countries owing to the policies of the CBN.

“Those with looted funds in their houses should find a way of depositing such monies in any commercial bank rather than trying to use a back door approach to knock off the CBN governor and get the policies reversed through their lackeys,” he said.

“The judiciary should remain steadfast in defending the spirit and letter of our constitution, as they are the last hope of the common man.”