No going back on extension of cashless policy to more states —CBN

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has said that every arrangement is in place to commence the cashless policy in five states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) effective July 1.

Speaking at a cashless policy conference in Lagos on Monday, Deputy Governor, Operations, CBN, Mr Tunde Lemo, said the decision to extend the cashless initiative was based on the positive feedbacks from the Lagos pilot project, stressing that apart from individuals, some merchants, especially petrol stations have joined the league of enthusiasts by encouraging their customers to use cards instead of cash for payments.

Lemo, who was represented by the Director, Banking and Payment Department, Dipo Fatokun, said the apex bank was working with all  stakeholders to ensure that the identified challenges were quickly surmounted, stating that the banks, under the aegis of the Bankers’ Committee, have engaged in aggressive campaign to make a success in the states.

“CBN has also engaged a group of traders, associations and schools to provide the needed awareness and education,” he said.

“ Additionally, it is gratifying to note that this conference typifies one of the major windows of educating the public on the project. We encourage all Nigerians to support this initiative, in order to make Nigeria one of the world’s top 20 economies in 2020, and by extension, take its rightful place in the comity of nations,” he said.

Also speaking, Lagos State governor, Babatunde Fashola, said the transition to a cashless society could no longer be ignored, stating that it leads to safety of funds, reduced cost of cash management and enhances the speed of doing business.

Fashola, who was represented by the Accountant-General of Lagos State, Mr David Sumoni, said the government had both participatory and supportive roles to play in the success of the transition to a cashless society, noting that the major step was to create enabling environment to ensure smooth implementation.