By Vera Chinonso Aliyu, YeyeNews.com, October 23, 2021
The Kogi State government is considering paying the salaries of civil servants in the State with cryptocurrency from January 2022. A source in the Ministry of Finance told YeyeNews.com that the governor gave the directive to the Commissioner of Finance during the State Economic Council meeting.
“The governor was concerned about the effect that the daily erosion in the value of the naira is having on the purchasing power of the civil servants”, the source said. “The governor said he is determined to save Kogites from the continuous plunge in the value of the naira. He then directed the Ministry of Finance to put everything in place to begin payment of salaries in cryptocurrency from January 2022”.
When YeyeNews.com sought clarification from Kogi State on how the policy will work since the trade in cryptocurrency is banned in Nigeria, an aide of the Commissioner of Finance who spoke with YeyeNews.com reporter said that the governor is aware of the ban and is working hard to get it lifted. “Mr. Governor in his proactive nature is already working to lift the ban. He will be meeting with the president soon to discuss the matter. I am sure the ban will be lifted before December”.
Another aide of the governor hailed the policy and described the governor as a technology savvy person. “Governor Bello has demonstrated his innovative spirit and love for the Nigerian youth. He is determined to deploy modern technologies to solve the problems of the country. The youths should elect a youth and worker friendly person like him to rule this country in 2023”.
But the PDP in Kogi State has accused the governor of pursuing a selfish and corrupt agenda under the guise of caring for civil servants. “The governor is just looking for ways to loot Kogi money without any trace. Since the EFCC busted his twenty billion naira heist he has been looking for more discreet ways to hide his loot. This is the truth about his new cryptocurrency project”, the Kogi State PDP spokesman said. “He has powerful collaborators in Aso Rock who are helping him to convince the president to lift the ban on cryptocurrency in Nigeria. He wants to use the cover of paying salaries in cryptocurrency to move his loots discreetly. There is no altruism in this project”.
Meanwhile, a financial technology expert, Chris Ugagan explained that the anonymity in cryptocurrency transactions can make it a very good medium for laundering illicit funds by politically exposed persons. “Just like all things in life cryptocurrency can be used for good and bad aims. The proposal to use it for payment of salaries is a good one because it will slow down the effect of inflation on the salary. But on the flip side the operators can also use to launder money without trace. Imagine if the twenty billion naira belonging to Kogi State that was found in a fixed deposit account recently was hidden in a cryptocurrency wallet. EFCC wouldn’t have had any idea about its existence. Perhaps this is a motivation for this push to pay civil salaries in crypto”.
