A House of Representatives member, Ado Doguwa, says the naira crunch will affect the electioneering expenses of politicians, noting that he needs N70 million in ‘hard copy’ for the poll.
He made the comment after a meeting with President Muhammadu Buhari at the Aso Rock villa in Abuja on Thursday, in the wake of the Nigerian leader’s directive to the CBN on the naira swap.
“I need to have this N70 million in hard copy. That is the position of the law, and as I speak to you, I don’t have it,” the House leader said in reference to Section 88(4) of the Electoral Act, which caps election expenses for House of Representatives seats at N70,000,000.
He added that this will affect all politicians running for office, irrespective of their party affiliations.
According to him, in many places, there are no banks or ATMs to ensure that party agents and others are paid during the election.
“And don’t forget the point I made as a partisan member that the policy in itself is against the ruling party because Nigerians that are not happy will look at it as a policy of the government of the APC.
“This has already placed us at a disadvantage,” he added.
He argued that while the move is good, it is ill-timed.
“Some of us see a lot of good things about the policy, but our worry as members of the ruling party is, why now?”
“With 30 to 40 days to the elections, you come out with a policy that is not widely accepted by Nigerians, and whether we like it or not, that will be seen as the program of the government,” he said.
“So those of us in the APC are not happy about it,” Doguwa maintained.
