Naira redesign: CNPP lauds plan as EFCC talks tough on vote buying

Conference of Nigeria Political Parties (CNPP) has commended the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) for its decision to redesign the country’s currency denominations ahead of the 2023 general elections, adding that only vote buyers will criticise the plan.

CNPP, in a statement by its Secretary General, Chief Willy Ezugwu, yesterday, said antagonists of the initiative would consist of politicians that intend to buy votes and financially induce electoral officials, persons that are ignorant of the importance of the policy, and beneficiaries of the proceeds of crimes, including drug barons and kidnappers.

CNPP said: “The effort by the CBN to control the amount of money in circulation – where N2.7 trillion out of N3.3 trillion in circulation is said to be outside the vault of commercial banks – poses a high risk for the country’s economy and its internal security.

“It is obvious that many politicians, especially since 2015, amassed illicit wealth and depleted the commonwealth, to the extent that the currency in circulation has more than doubled since 2015, rising from N1.46 trillion in December 2015 to N3.2 trillion as of September 2022, according to CBN data. Certainly, this is unacceptable in any economy controlled by sane financial experts.”

It added: “The CNPP is glad that the timing of this naira notes redesign is right, as there is no better time than in an election year, especially where politicians have made vote buying an alternative to convincing the electorate through their track record and capacity to govern.”

MEANWHILE, Chairman of Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Abdulrasheed Bawa, has warned politicians to desist from vote buying, stressing that the anti-graft agency will continue to monitor elections, with a view to arresting offenders.

He spoke to journalists at the National Assembly after defending the commission’s 2023 budget proposal.

Bawa said: “We will continue to arrest those who specialise in vote buying. We will work hand in glove with Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to achieve that. We will ensure that illegitimate funds do not find their way into our elections.”

He described the CBN plan to redesign Nigeria’s currency as a welcome development, saying: “How can you have an effective monitoring policy when you don’t have control over 85 per cent of your currency. People are hoarding it, using it to speculate on foreign exchange and all of that.”

“By this policy, the government is trying to ensure that those people that are bringing back what they hoarded, whether legitimately or illegitimately, we will be able to monitor, and the law will take its course.”