Senator Ali Ndume, Chairman of the Senate Committee on Army, has expressed concern that the naira redesign and cashless policy is negatively impacting the day-to-day activities of troops on the frontlines.
According to him, soldiers who were previously able to obtain cash from ATMs and Points of Sale are now unable to do so, and as a result, their fighting spirit has dwindled because the terrains of their operations are inaccessible for their daily rations to be delivered to them.
The Borno senator, who also disputed the claim that the redesign of the Naira would aid in the fight against terror financing and other security breaches, stated that terrorists have stated that they already have the new notes.
Ndume went on to urge the Federal Government and the CBN to make provisions for troops to easily access their cash due to the critical nature of their duties, as well as to make the new notes available everywhere and at all times.
He said;
Naira redesign and the CBN’s cashless policy are actually gravely affecting the strategic operations of troops at all front lines of insecurity across the country.
Troops find it difficult to survive at the front lines due to the fact that they lack the cash to buy their daily basic needs at the remote communities across terrains of insecurity in the country where they cannot access cash due to the challenges posed by the currency redesign and cashless policy.
Now a soldier stays for hours on the ATM queue or PoS when he should discharging his duties at the front line, just to access the stipend, this situation has dampened the morale of the troops at the front line?