Emefiele insists that withdrawal limits cannot be changed.
According to CBN Governor Godwin Emefiele, there are no plans to change the new cash withdrawal limit rule that will go into effect on January 9, 2023.
However, Emefiele gave the impression that following implementation, the appropriate evaluations of the policy’s specifics will be conducted.
Following a meeting with President Muhammadu Buhari, Emefiele revealed this to State House Correspondents in Daura, Katsina State. He said that the strategy is not directed at any one individual but rather is focused on advancing the economy.
The new policy, which many fear would make life tough for Nigerians and hurt those in the small business enterprise cadre, has drawn criticism from a segment of the public, particularly the National Assembly.
On Thursday, the House of Representatives summoned the Governor to update its members on the policy and requested that the CBN halt it until it complies with the Act that created it.
Emefiele, however, said that the President supports him in his current attempts to reroute money, claiming that Buhari “was very, very delighted and said we should keep on with our job, no need to fear, no need to worry about anybody.”
After his meeting with the President, Emefiele responded to questions from reporters by saying: “Well, the Senate of the Federal Republic is the National Assembly; they are the government’s legislative body. From time to time, we brief them about what is happening and about our policies. I’m aware that they have requested some briefings, and we will provide them, but I think it’s important for me to say that the cashless policy began in 2012.
“On perhaps three to four instances, we were forced to rescind the policy because we believed that we needed to brace ourselves and strengthen the architecture of Nigeria’s payment system. We think that many electronic channels have been put in place between 2012 and 2022, or about 10 years, to help consumers undertake banking and financial service transactions in Nigeria.
We’ve heard stories about some of the residents of rural places, but the fact is that even while using online banking, I recently came across a kiosk with a super agent. We believed that the infrastructure of the payment system needed to be strengthened, so we did.
We have 1.4 million super agents spread across the entire nation, including all local governments and villages. As I informed my coworkers, some of their names have already been published on the CBN website, and the names of all super agents will be made public as well. Super agents are distinct from banks, microfinance institutions, and other financial institutions.
