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Salihu Lukman, the national vice-chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC) representing North-west zone, says that the cashless policy was used against Bola Tinubu by people who wanted Senate President Ahmad Lawan to run for president.
Tinubu, the APC’s presidential candidate, beat Lawan and other contenders in the ruling party’s primary.
Before the primary, Lawan was seen as the APC’s most likely presidential candidate.
In a statement released on Tuesday, Lukman said that “forces” in the APC don’t like the idea of Tinubu becoming president, which is why the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) put in place its cashless policy.
In December 2022, the apex bank lowered the amount of cash individuals could withdraw from ATMs each week to N100,000 and the amount corporations could withdraw to N500,000. This was done to encourage people to do their banking online.
The bank also stopped letting people take more than N20,000 daily from ATMs and point-of-sale terminals.
Many have said that the policy would make less cash available outside banks.
“There are forces within the APC that are also not comfortable with the possibility that Asiwaju Tinubu will be the next president of the Federal Republic of Nigeria,” Lukman said.
“Schemers that failed to produce Mr Emefiele or former President Jonathan or Sen. Ahmed Lawan as the consensus candidate of APC have unleashed Mr Emefiele’s so-called cashless policy to damage the APC and the candidature of Asiwaju Tinubu.
“But as they failed in the case of consensus presidential candidates, they are also failing in their intrigues to damage the APC and the candidature of Asiwaju Tinubu.
“Like Asiwaju Tinubu emerged as the presidential candidate of APC despite their machinations, Asiwaju Tinubu will also become president of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, God willing.”
Lukman argued that Tinubu’s candidature is about realising Nigerians’ dreams.
“That is the founding vision of APC, it remains the pillar of every electoral contest in APC since 2015, and it shall remain so,” he said.
