From Ighomuaye Lucky, Benin
The Edo State Governor, Mr Godwin Obaseki, has said that he has no problem with the cashless policy of Nigeria driven by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) but that such should be done in the way and manner that it will not increase the woes of the common man.
He disclosed this while meeting with the top management staff of the various banks in the state.
Obaseki said the state government is very concerned about the well-being of its citizens and would not want them to go through unnecessary stress in a bid of getting their cash, therefore, decided to know the measures put in place by the various banks to cushion their pains.
“This morning, I have to invite the CBN and the senior Management of Banks in Edo State to meet with me because the government is very concerned with the suffering of our people and we are very worried and concerned with the inability of the people to get cash in Edo State.
“Having deliberated extensively, we have come to the following resolutions.
“The policy of moving the Nigerian economy to a cashless system should be encouraged, it is the best thing for our banking system.
“So the Edo state government has no problem with the policy of the federal government to move our economy into a cashless economy but however we want to ensure that we do this as painlessly and as seamlessly as possible”, Obaseki said.
He said what Nigerians need, is effective communication and how to convince them to buy into the cashless policy of the federal government, stressing that, that will help clear their doubt about the whole process.
“We have to improve on the communication with our people so that we can reduce their fears. when people go to the banks to collect cash it is because they want to spend it on something.
“We want to help inform them that they don’t need to go and collect cash to spend, they actually have other means through which they can still make payments they want to make without going to the bank to go and collect cash.
“Most people who have bank accounts and have phones don’t need to go to the bank to collect cash, from their phone they can make whatever payment they want to make.
“For those who don’t have a sophisticated phone can still with the USSD code that has been given by their banks, pay for things as N500 and N1000 without paying cash.
“There are companies that offer electronic wallets service and CBN has registered quite a lot of them like the telecom companies have a lot of them where you can put money in wallet in your account where you can spend.
“We have people who have POS terminals who have been licenced to operate and they are not only to give cash but to also help you with payment.
“So, when you go to POS terminals, don’t ask for cash let them do for you what you want to use the cash for.
“And finally, Edo State as you know have launched our residency identity card and that card also gives you the capacity to also make payment.
“We are working closely with the CBN and by next week, we would ensure that we continue with the role out of the card for Edo indigenes and residents.
“In the meeting today, we have to emphasise to our citizens that unlike before we don’t have to keep cash and that whatever you want to use cash for, there are means that can help you spend cash without necessarily going to the bank.
“So, we must move from where we used to hold cash because there is no reason you can’t pay Okada and Keke rider from your phone.
“In Kenya, that is what happens. We must insist to people who are selling that there are other means we can pay them outside cash.
“The whole purpose of finance is how we can move money from one place to another”, he explained.
On his part, the Director, Risk Management, CBN, Mr Blaise Ijebor, said “We are here to make sure we do all that we can, to make sure that there is the supply of naira to everybody in Edo State but we are also here to encourage people as much as possible to use alternative means to make their payment because we really want to drive a cashless environment in this country because it is of benefit to all of us.
“So, if you are being able to use your card to pay, or be able to use your bank app to pay, if you are able to use your USSD to pay, please, use those, you can even go to your ATM that is not paying cash and do transfer from those ATMs.
“So, use alternative means as much as possible but if you must get cash, yes, we are aware that a number of ATMs are not paying, we are going to make sure that there is supply within the next day or two and they are all paying but in the interim, you can go to your bank branches, we have made supply available through your bank to give you some cash for you to use.
“We want to advise, just take the little that you need. We have asked them to pay up to a maximum of N20,000 but because of the crowd, some banks might not be able to pay you N20,000 at once.
“So, if they can pay you N5000 or N10,000, use that to manage for the next day or two.
“We are going to make supply available. We are working round the clock to make sure that thing happens.
“So, please be calm, your money is still with the bank and you will not lose your money, there is enough money in the banking system to meet everyone’s demand it’s just that it is taking a bit of time to get to everywhere.”