Edo: POS Operators Disburse New Naira Notes In Markets; APC Says It’s  Governor Obaseki

By Ayodele Oni

Residents of Edo state have hailed Governor Godwin Obaseki intervention to ameliorate the hardship faced accessing the redesigned naira notes as the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) begins cash disbursements in markets.

But opposition All Progressive Congress (APC) in the state has alternative view on the governor’s intervention, which it described as part of plans to use POS operators to disburse money to electorate during next week presidential election.

Report said government officials led the staff of the CBN to major markets and other places to monitor the disbursement of cash to Point of Sales (POS) operators and residents within the Benin metropolis.

The government officials include Chief of Staff to the Edo State Governor, Osaigbovo Iyoha, and the Special Adviser to the Governor on Media Projects, Crusoe Osagie.

The CBN team was led by the Director of Risk Management, CBN, Abuja, Dr. Blaise Ijebor.

Some markets monitored include Oba Market, Ekiosa Market at Murtala Muhammed Way, and Uselu Market, among others.

According to Austin Edosomwan, one of those that withdrew money, “this POS system is working perfectly. The good thing is the rate is N100 per N5000. If it can continue like this all over the state, in one or two weeks everything will be balanced.

“If I can collect N5000 every day like this, that will be N150,000 in a month. How much is minimum wage? So, it will be very okay for me even as a family man.”

Also, Samuel Ogbeiye, noted, “This is a welcome development. However, the CBN and the federal government should work together to make the processes involved in disposing of the old notes easier.”

But, the APC in the state said the recruitment of members of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in all the political wards of the 18 local government areas of the state as Point of Sales (PoS) operators is for the sole purposes of vote-buying during the elections.

The party pointed out that yhe strategy is already being tested in some parts of Benin City – the Edo South Senatorial District, being the first phase of the pilot scheme, while arrangements are being perfected for its transmutation to Edo Central and Edo North Senatorial Districts after the submission of a list of would-be operators from the leaders and candidates contesting under the PDP across the state.

A statement by the Chairman of the Edo State Media and Publicity Directorate of the APC Presidential Campaign Council (PCC), Mr John Mayaki said he received an intelligent report that the state government was working on a scheme to recruit PoS operators for the purpose of the elections.

The statement said, “its actualization and implementation plan, the Governor was reported to have appealed to AMMBAN members to collaborate with the state government and CBN, a suspicion that the PDP and its state governors may have struck a deal with the CBN Governor, Godwin Emefiele and his agents to work against the candidate of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu.

“Whereas, the PDP, its presidential candidate and its state governors have been hailing President Muhammadu Buhari and the CBN Governor, Godwin Emefiele over the unpopular policy of Naira redesign and its haphazard implementation not minding the untold hardship the masses are going through in accessing their hard earned money.

“Whereas, the PDP, its presidential candidate and governors on their platforms have gone to court to insist that the policy remains as against the stand of the presidential candidate of the APC and governors under its platform who challenged its implementation at the Supreme Court and called for the understanding of Mr. President to allow both the new and old notes to coexist, so as to ameliorate the suffering of the people.

“Whereas, this same PDP and their cronies have mounted the rostrum to campaign to Nigerians to vote the APC out of government over this policy – a policy implementation they are staunchly supporting, claiming it would curb vote buying.

“It simply shows the hypocrisy of the PDP, its presidential candidate, Alh. Atiku Abubakar and its governors.

“Whereas, governors under the platform of the PDP have unfettered access to the CBN Governor, Godwin Emefiele, Bank CEOs and Bank Managers across the country – and have the new notes in their custody already and have also perfected alternative means to influencing the people during the elections.

“But it is this same PDP and its governors hailing the President who is in utter contempt of the Supreme Court as a result of his national broadcast on the new naira notes redesign policy.

“We learnt that there’s an ongoing recruitment of PDP members across the political wards of the 18 local government areas of the state as Point of Sales (PoS) operators for the sole purposes of vote-buying during the elections.

“We understand the governor wants to double PoS operators across the state and that he has a plan. We also understand that the scheme has begun in Benin city under the guise of bringing the new notes closer to the market women and the communities.

“We are studying the situation very closely to see how they plan to unwholesomely use PoS operators for vote-buying since we understand that that’s their motive.”