Godwin Emiefele, the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has stated that the apex bank would not be used to frustrate the upcoming general elections. He gave the assurance on Tuesday during a courtesy visit to the CBN headquarters by the management of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) led by its Chairman, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu. Yakubu said service providers needed for elections are usually paid by electronic transfer, but added that the current scarcity of naira would negatively affect some of the Commission’s activities such as cash payment for transportation and emergency situations.
He said, “In view of the recent policy involving the redesign of some denominations of our national currency and the limits placed on cash withdrawals and availability, we consider this meeting important in addressing some of the areas of concern with just 17 days to the 2023 general election.
“We are confident that arising from this meeting, we can assuage the anxiety expressed by some of our service providers. We’re determined to make the 2023 general election, one of the best-organized elections in Nigeria but we cannot do it alone.”
In his response, Emiefele said, “This issue of paying logistics for people who are going to be transporting election materials to wards, certainly I give it to you that because we regard the INEC project as an urgent national assignment, it cannot fail.
“The Central Bank will not allow itself either to be used or to be seen as an agent that frustrated positive outcome of the election.
“I give you the commitment that if in this case, after making your electronic payment you require some money to pay transporters, in this case, cash, we will make it available.”
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