INEC and the World Bank have raised alarm that the lingering fuel scarcity and the inability of Nigerians to access the new naira notes may pose threats to the February 25 and March 10 elections in the country.
By Emma Ogbuehi
The World Bank Country Office in Nigeria has raised alarm that the lingering fuel scarcity and the inability of Nigerians to access the new naira notes may pose threats to the February 25 and March 10 elections in the country. The nation’s electoral umpire, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), has raised similar fears, warning that the fuel scarcity may affect logistics for the polls.
The World Bank issued the alert in a document posted on its website.
According to a document, the bank pointed out that the deadline for old notes will socially and economically affect vulnerable people in the country.
The document said, “The shortage of cash compounds fuel shortages, which have been ongoing for months. There is a clear risk that cash shortages cause hardship and frustration, which could escalate social tensions, especially in a febrile political environment ahead of elections on February 25 (presidential and parliamentary) and March 11 (gubernatorial).
The bank further disclosed 45 per cent of Nigerian adults had a bank account, 34 per cent pay or receive money digitally over the past year, while nine per cent made an in-store payment by digital means.
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It projected Nigeria would not be able to attain a quick increase in digital payment to enhance the shortages of new notes across the country within the stipulated deadline.
The observation by the World bank comes on the heels of an earlier worry expressed by the INEC that the fuel issue may affect the movement of materials and personnel on election days, if not addressed.
INEC Chairman, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu made the disclosure at a sensitisation meeting on the implementation of the commission’s Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW) and other unions ahead of the elections.
Faced with the cash squeeze occasioned by the Naira swap, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) governor, Godwin Emefiele, after reportedly seeking the approval of President Muhammadu Buhari had extended the deadline for the currency swap to February 10.
Situations across the country however indicate that the extension has not changed anything for the better as millions of Nigerians could not access the new N1000, N500 and N200 notes while even the lower denominations of N100 and N50 that have not been altered are not available.
While politicians have continued to trade blames; and the CBN accusing commercial banks of hoarding the new naira notes to the extent of unleashing security agents on them, Nigerians in many states have run out of patience and have started taking to the streets to protest the shortage of the naira.
Experts said the alert by INEC and the document released by the World Bank on its website should be taken seriously because the citizens are becoming increasingly overstretched as many could not access their hard-earned money to feed their families.
Amid the alarm by the World Bank, the governments of Kaduna, Kogi and Zamfara states have sued the federal government and the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) before the Supreme Court over the currency redesigning and “de-monetisation” policy.
They are seeking a declaration that the “Demonetization policy of the federation being currently carried out by the CBN under the directive of the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria is not in compliance with the extant provisions of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 (as amended), Central Bank of Nigeria Act, 2007 and actual laws on the subject.”
They are also asking the court to make a declaration that the three-month notice given by the federal government and the CBN under the directive of the president, the expiration of which will render the old bank notes inadmissible as legal tender, is in gross violation of the provisions of Section 20(3) of the CBN Act 2007, which specifies that reasonable notice must be given before such a policy and that the limit cannot be outside that provided under Section 22(1) of the CBN Act 2007.