By Uzair Adam Imam
A former Central Bank (CBN) governor, Sanusi Lamido Sanusi ll, said the new cashless policy by the Central Bank of Nigeria will help mitigate the lingering issue of corruption by some politicians during elections.
Sunusi also urged the general public to ignore the rain of complaints against the policy, reiterating that the policy would discourage rigging.
He disclosed this Sunday in a short video that went viral, adding that the policy dates back to 2012 when he was the CBN governor.
He said: “The cashless policy started in 2012 when I was governor of the CBN with Lagos and later spread to five states.
“The explanation we gave that time is that the world is evolving and people shouldn’t be carrying cash around, as such the introduction of cashless policy to ease transactions.
“At first people protested against it but they later accepted the policy and started using the different payment channels at restaurants, shops and other places.
“I want to advise people to be careful with what politicians are saying about the cashless policy because it does not favour them.
“They spend four years without delivering on their mandates and later return with huge sums of money thinking they can bribe the security agencies and the electoral body.
“What the policy entails now is that a politician who wants to bribe the security agencies or the electoral body, he/she must pay it in the persons’ bank account where the transaction can be traced.
“Therefore I urge people to embrace the policy as part of efforts to entrench democracy and also make rigging difficult for politicians,” he added.
