CBN Douses Tension On Elections, Promises Cash Assistance To INEC

By Ayodele Oni

As fingers are being pointed at the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) as a possible instrument to truncate this year’s general election, the Governor Godwin Emiefele, has assured that the apex bank will do everything possible to ensure success of the poll.

Emefiele, who spoke on Tuesday, allayed the fears in some quarters that the crisis associated with the circulation of the redesigned Naira notes might jeopardize the  elections, which kick off less than 20 days time

Emefiele assured Nigerians that the apex bank would not allow itself to be used to frustrate the elections.

The CBN boss, who spoke when the Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof Mahmood Yakubu, led 11 National Commissioners on a visit to the Bank, said the CBN will make available every cash needed to pay logistics for the success of the elections.

He was responding to a request from Yakubu that the CBN should find a way of addressing scarcity of currency across the country, 17 days to the Presidential and National Assembly elections since some service providers to the commission were “unbanned.”

Emefiele assured him: “The CBN will not allow itself to be used as agents to frustrate the forthcoming elections which is a positive assignment.

“If you require cash to pay some of your service providers, we will make it available to you. We will not allow ourselves to be seen as agents that frustrate a genuine assignment.”

The INEC chairman had told the CBN Governor that the 2023 polls would be the best in Nigeria’s history, adding that concerns had however been raised about the processes leading to the elections.

He said while the Commission had transferred all its accounts at the state and national levels to the apex bank, some of the services being rendered to the Commission needed to be paid for in cash.