Gov Fintiri says Emefiele bitter, targeting politicians with withdrawal limit policy

The governor of Adamawa, Ahmadu Fintiri, has claimed that the political class is the target of the Central Bank of Nigeria’s (CBN) new cash withdrawal limit policy.

The CBN set restrictions on weekly cash withdrawals for both private citizens and businesses on Tuesday.

The new rule, which CBN claims would go into effect on January 9, 2023, aims to lessen the amount of actual currency that is in circulation and promote more electronic-based transactions.

However, Fintiri stated that it was obvious that Emefiele’s strategy was directed at the political elite when appearing at a campaign event in the state’s Kala’a, Hong local government area on Friday.

The governor also said having lost out in his bid to join the political class, Emefiele chose to hunt politicians.

READ ALSO:2023: Fintiri proposes N175bn budget in Adamawa

“What is breeding poverty? Economic policies. Look at the one that is about to be implemented by the Central Bank which would further throw the country into poverty,” he said.

“Nobody is saying the economy shouldn’t be cashless. Take time and do it systematically. We shouldn’t do it as if some people wanted to be politicians and they were denied the opportunity, then they use their office to punish the politicians.

“If we are talking about governors diverting funds, we expect the government to correct the anomaly by sponsoring an amendment to the Nigerian constitution to separate the office of the accountant general of the federation from the accountant general of the federal government so that funds belonging to local government and the state would not also be converted by the federal government because what the governors are being accused of, the federal government can equally be accused of doing same ten times over.”

This comes after Fintiri claimed that the Federal Government was the main offender in the unauthorized withdrawals of funds from local and state governments.

He was responding to remarks made by President Muhammadu Buhari that governors impede national growth by fiddling with local government funding.

The Buhari-led administration has also accused state governors of contributing to the nation’s high poverty rate, claiming that their failure to fulfill their fair share of development obligations is to blame for the rise in poverty.

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