Good morning.
Today we are covering the CBN’s defense of its cashless policy at the House of Representatives, Nyesom Wike’s political calculations and the rising cost of taxi fares in Lagos.
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CBN defends cashless policy
Governor of the central bank Godwin Emefiele did not make it to his scheduled meeting with members of the House of Representatives on Thursday but one of his deputies, Aisha Ahmad, did.
Ms Ahmad is the bank’s deputy governor in charge of financial system stability.
In her address to the lawmakers, she argued that Nigeria has a robust payment system that can support the bank’s latest restrictions on cash withdrawals.
“To be specific, between the bank and the micro-finance banks, we have 6,500 locations, 900,000 POS terminals, 14,000 ATMs across the country and 1.4 million agents nationwide; and every local government area in Nigeria has agents represented,” she said.
According to the deputy governor, in 2012, POS transactions was N48 billion. Today it is N6 trillion.
“On electronic transfers, we had N3tn in 2012; today we have N300tn as at October 2022. That is a 7,000 per cent increase,” she said.
Response: The lawmakers were adamant that the CBN had not consulted the House before rolling out such a policy. Speaker Femi Gbajabiamila also chided Emefiele for not providing regular updates to lawmakers on monetary policies as prescribed by law.
The speaker questioned the timing of the CBN’s redesign of the naira. The UK gave a year’s notice for its new King Charles notes, the US has a policy to allow old notes to remain in use alongside the new ones until they are phased out.
Gbajabiamila wondered: “How then can we rationalise two, three months’ notice in a ‘cashfull’ society?”
My take: There’s obviously something wrong with how the CBN has gone about its new notes and cash withdrawal policies. It clearly did not consult the relevant stakeholders and the timelines are suspect. With national elections just a few weeks away, the decisions appear to be coloured by political considerations.
New notes: Ms Ahmad said 500 million units of the newly redesigned currency notes were ordered from the Nigerian minting company.
2023 budget: The Senate said it could not pass the bill as scheduled because of errors in the document. However, the lawmakers are hoping to straighten out the kinks before the year runs out.
Fintech malpractice: The House has mandated its committee on banking, currency, financial crimes and telecommunications to investigate alleged sharp practices and abuses by digital loan apps.
Wike to reveal presidential candidate
The combustible governor of Rivers state, Nyesom Wike, said he will reveal his choice for president in January.
“From January next year, I will campaign to my people whom they will vote for,” Wike said when he commissioned the tenth flyover by his administration in the Obio-Akpor Local Government Area of Rivers.
“So, all of you who have been in suspense, who have been saying all kinds of things, abusing me, wait. January is here.”
He added that he will vigorously campaign for whoever he selects.
My take: As a PDP chieftain, Wike is expected to support Atiku Abubakar, his party’s candidate. But the governor has made it clear he is not a fan of another northern presidency. To support Atiku, he has called for the removal of the PDP’s national chairman, Iyorchia Ayu. That now seems unlikely, so Wike may decide to go rogue and support an outsider like Peter Obi or Bola Ahmed Tinubu. My guess will be to ignore Wike’s recent comment and expect him not to declare support for any presidential candidate publicly.
Prices for Bolt skyrocket in Lagos
If you’ve had to order a ride on Bolt in Lagos recently, chances are you were left with your mouth hanging open.
Commuters have reported being charged exorbitant prices. Some have simply resorted to public transport.
“I came to this place in Lagos by Uber, I spent ₦12500. Today, I decided to jump buses. 4 buses altogether, left home before 6AM. I spent a total of ₦1300,” Chris Bamidele said on Twitter.
Well, it’s December and prices are usually high during this period as demand for car rides soar. (IJGBs 👀) But the fuel scarcity prevalent in the city has not helped.
Alternatives like Uber are cheaper but finding drivers may take more time.
Related: In Awka, petrol now sells for between N260 and N270 per litre, leading to a sharp increase in transport fares.
Quick fix: The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited is planning to bypass private depot owners and sell petrol directly to independent oil marketers for N148 per litre.
What else is happening?
Finance act 2022: One of the act’s key provisions is to change the name of the Federal Inland Revenue service (FIRS) to the Nigeria Revenue Service (NRS), finance minister Zainab Ahmed told senators.
Tragic: A commercial bus driver was killed after twin 20ft containers fell on vehicles plying the ever-busy Cele bus stop along the Oshodi-Apapa Expressway in Lagos.
Raising money: The federal government is planning to sell five electricity companies to fund the 2023 budget, according to Bloomberg.
Presidential rapport: Tinubu met with Buhari a day after the President restated his support for the APC candidate but noted he will not allow political campaigns to affect the “functions and duties of the President.”
Lai Mohammed: The information minister said Atiku Abubakar’s plan to reopen the nation’s land borders would lead to “unbridled inflow of weapons and massive importation of food to the detriment” of local farmers.
Hajj pilgrimage: Saudi Arabia said it would restore the 95,000 slots given to Nigeria before the Covid pandemic.
Seasons greetings: The federal government has declared December 26 and 27 as well as January 2 as public holidays to mark the Christmas and New Year celebrations.
And that’s it for the week. See you on Boxing Day😅