Paul Osuyi, Asaba

The  Central Bank of Nigeria has said there was no going back on the full implementation of the cashless policy expected to commence on April 1, this year across the country.

The first phase of the cashless policy implementation started in the nation’s commercial hub, Lagos, on January 1, 2012.

It was later extended to Abia, Anambra, Kano, Ogun and Rivers states, as well as Abuja, in the second phase that commenced on October 1, 2013.

Speaking on the sidelines of a two-day sensitisation fair held in Asaba, Delta State, CBN Director of Corporate Communications, Isaac Okoroafor, said no state will be left behind in the last phase of the implementation of the policy.

The fair had as its theme: “Promoting Financial  and Economic Development”.

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Okoroafor explained that the cashless policy is not punitive, noting that it is aimed at discouraging the attitude of carrying huge sums of money about by individuals with all the attendant security risks.

Saying that CBN had been educating the people on the policy, he urged customers to embrace electronic method of transactions which according to him, is more convenient, safe and secured.

Okoroafor also stated that the apex bank has put all machinery in place to ensure swift and seamless transactions once the implementation of the cashless policy takes full effect nationwide from April 1.

He however counseled bank customers to guide their security codes jealousy in order to avoid fraudsters hacking into their accounts.

On the abuse of naira notes including hawking of currency notes, the CBN director reiterated the extant fines for such abuses, noting however that it was the sole responsibility of security agencies to implement the laws.

He expressed dissatisfaction with the poor turn out of  participants at the fair despite adequate preparation, stressing that the turn out in Kebbi State with over 6,000 participants and Ekiti State with over 3,000 where similar campaign took place were higher that in Asaba.