Cash withdrawal limits targeted at poor Nigerians - PDP

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has claimed that the Central Bank of Nigeria's (CBN) new cash withdrawal policy was targeted at poor Nigerians.

Recall that CBN Governor, Godwin Emefiele, announced the restriction of over-the-counter cash withdrawals by individuals and organisations to N100,000 and N500,000, respectively, per week.

The apex bank also limited cash withdrawals through Point-of-Sale (PoS) machines and Automated Teller Machines (ATM) to N20,000 daily and N100,000 weekly, respectively.

Reacting to the development, the Director, Strategic Communications, National Election Management Committee of the PDP Presidential Campaign Council, Dele Momodu, said the policy would disrupt the smooth running of political parties if implemented.

Speaking to Sunday Punch in an interview, Momodu said the PDP's finance committee would address the policy as it affected the party, admitting that, “if enforced, the policy would strangulate the political process, not the PDP alone”.

Momodu's words: “Why make a policy that will largely affect the poor more than the rich? My worry is that most of the country’s policies target the poor. The PDP is worried about the poor market women, and the ordinary man on the street because we want to run a cash-and-carry economy.

“In 2014/2015, I am sure if Buhari (Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.)) had no access to funding, he would not have been the President of Nigeria.

“There are people who are making contributions to political parties, and some parties have set up structures to receive support from people. How then will they be able to access funds if the government is saying that one cannot withdraw more than N100,000 in a week?

“I read somewhere that the CBN said the policy will not be rigid, but why make the policy in the first place if it is not going to be rigid?”

Explaining further how the implementation of the policy may affect the PDP, the Ovation Magazine publisher said, “The finance committee (of the party) is better placed to say the extent to which this will affect us as we prepare for a series of activities leading to the general elections. If the committee thinks the party will be negatively affected, perhaps, they will consider writing to the CBN. But, like I said earlier, this is more of a problem for the ordinary man on the street than it is for a political party.”

Pulse reports that the new CBN withdrawal policy has generated controversial reactions as some Nigerians believed its implementation will have adverse effects on the small scale businesses in the country.