Foolish CBN! Vote-buying made Easy

The Central Bank of Nigeria’s (CBN) inglorious Naira redesign policy is still biting hard on the masses. Many are hungry as the new naira notes are nowhere to be found, the banks have been made redundant and useless by Godwin Emefiele’s foolish policy.

All around Nigeria, especially in the Southwest and South-South, there have been massive protests against CBN’s policy. Banks have been set ablaze and many others vandalised. Irate youths shutdown several roads and set up burnfires on them. Anarchy has in deed set in as hunger strikes many, smiling at their pitiable calamity.

In the midst of all these, Emefiele and his backer, President Muhammadu Buhari are undaunted. They are bent on impoverishing Nigerians. Reason! they said they want to curb vote-buying in this weekend presidential election. Buhari said he wants to deliver to the nation a free and fair election and that to do that, he must stifle the inflow of money into circulation.

Part of the grand plan was to change the naira, the higher denomination-N200, N500 and N1,000. The so-called naira swap was not at all a swap but a seizure of people’s money and a return of nothing back to them. Nigerians deposited their hard-earned old Naira notes in the bank and got nothing in return. Is that Naira swap?

Everyone thought reprieve has come the way of the masses when the Supreme Court granted an interim injunction to allow the old naira notes to be in circulation pending the determination of the case filed by some governors against the obnoxious policy of the apex bank.

The Supreme Court had in a ruling on 8 February granted an interim injunction that the CBN and the federal government should suspend the implementation of the Feb.10 deadline for the expiration of the legal tender status of the old N200, N500 and N1000 notes.

On 15 February the apex court affirmed the ruling. This, it said, should be pending until the hearing and determination of a suit before it slated for Feb. 22.

In a surprise move President Buhari on 16 February, in a broadcast announced that only the old N200 note would remain valid until April 10. He said old N500 and N1000 notes had ceased to be legal tender.

The broadcast had been heavily criticised and condemned by lawyers and many of the 21 governors of the APC. Many expressed outrage that the President could openly defy the apex court in a democracy.

Buhari wasn’t moved. He is bent on going ahead with his plan, believing that the move will curb vote-buying in Saturday’s election.

Right now, there is desperation written in the faces of Nigerians. People are looking for ways to survive, yet the president and the CBN said they want to curb vote-buying.

What the CBN didn’t realise is that politicians have enough of this new notes at their disposal. Vote-buying will now be made easy because the masses are hungry and desperately need food to survive.

We have reached a point in this country where many people will jump at seeing just N500 new note. Millions in the rural areas and in the urban areas will be glad to get hold on new N500 and N1,000 notes. The impact this policy will have on Saturday is that politicians will spend less amount of money on vote-buying as many hungry Nigerians will be glad go less in their demand because they just must feed. It will certainly make vote-buying easy. While vote-buying is evil, it cannot be stopped in an atmosphere where majority of the masses are going to poll hungry. The thoughtless policy of Buhari and Emefiele will have been defeated. CBN is in deed foolish to think it can stop politicians from buying votes. They already have this new notes to sway hungry voters to their sides at little cost unlike in a normal setting when huge money would be spent in buying votes.