Reps urge CBN to implement cashless policy in phases

The Reps say there are too many reasons Nigeria can adopt the cashless policy at once.
The House of Representatives in Abuja on Thursday urged the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, to implement the cashless policy in phases.
It also urged the apex bank to remove the charges or limits on daily cumulative withdrawals and deposits to encourage small businesses.
The House further called on the CBN and commercial banks to take the security of customers’ transactions seriously.
This resolution is sequel to the adoption of a motion moved by Yakubu Dogara (PDP-Bauchi) and 38 other members.
Leading the debate, Mr. Dogara said the policy could save costs in the financial sector but did not imply real sector growth.
According to him, the majority of retail and commercial payments are made in cash from a large percentage of the population who do not operate bank accounts.
He noted that the CBN had not achieved the needed 40 per cent expansion of Automated Teller Machines.
“Financial infrastructure in Nigeria is grossly inadequate to meet the demands of a cashless society,” he said.
The legislator said that low literacy level and the absence of constant power supply would discourage Nigerians from embracing the policy.
Aisha Ahmed (PDP-Adamawa) said Nigerians have, in various occasions, been defrauded of millions of naira through electronic transactions.
Albert Sam-Tsokwa (PDP-Taraba), who supported the motion, lauded the policy but said it was premature to introduce it to the society.
He said that most communities in the country lacked banking facilities that were designed to implement the policy.
Emmanuel Jime (PDP-Benue) said: “every new policy will normally come with challenges, are we afraid of innovations?”
Rep. Peter Akpatason (ACN-Edo) said if the policy was truncated, activities of money launderers and sponsors of criminals would increase.
He said there was need to take a critical look at the advantages rather than the disadvantages.
The CBN introduced the pilot scheme of the policy in Lagos in 2012.
(NAN)*