The governor of Nasarawa State, Abdullahi Sule, yesterday said that Nigeria was not ready for a cashless economy, because the cash in circulation was less than five percent of the country’s collective wealth.
The governor stated this while speaking during an interactive session with the All Progressives Congress, APC, stakeholders at the headquarters of Obi Local Government Area of the state, in continuation of his re-election campaign tour.
He said, “In Nigeria, the country’s collective wealth is over N50 trillion. But out of this, only N3 trillion is in circulation, which is less than five percent. The argument that there is too much money in circulation in Nigeria is not true.
“By the time the cash in circulation reaches about N10 trillion, that is when we can push to transit to a cashless society.”
He continued that some people were complaining because they do not understand the economic situation of the world, because they claimed that Nigeria has too much money in circulation.
“This is far from the truth. If you look at what is happening in the US, and how that country transited to a cashless society, you will understand better. But 20 percent of the US wealth is cash in circulation. In India, 15 percent of the country’s wealth is in circulation.”
The governor, therefore, decried the hardship being faced by Nigerians since the implementation of the policy, stressing that once the Supreme Court agreed on a return of the old currency, all these hardships will disappear.
“The reason why people are facing difficulty is because enough new naira notes were not printed. In Nigeria, we have about N3 trillion in circulation. But the CBN only printed N200 billion new naira notes, which is inadequate.
“Actually, the CBN merely collected money from the hands of Nigerians.”
