New naira: CBN deceived Buhari – Oshiomhole

The former All Progressives Congress National Chairman, Adams Oshiomhole, on Sunday, joined other ruling party chieftains claiming that the naira redesign was aimed at scuttling the presidential election.

Speaking on Sunday during an interview on Channels Television’s ‘The 2023 Verdict’, the former Edo State governor claimed the Central Bank of Nigeria deceived the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd), into approving the naira redesign policy.

While exonerating Buhari from any blame, the APC chief claimed that though he was not privy to what led to the President’s approval of the policy, he believed Buhari was deceived.

According to the former governor, the bank sold an anti-corruption motive to the President which made him approve the policy.

“So, I can guess – I was not there – that in obtaining the approval, I believe the CBN deceived the President by amplifying the need to have corruption-free electioneering as if the election is the only project this President has a responsibility for,” Oshiomhole said.

He added that the apex bank allegedly exploited the anti-corruption stance of the President in getting him to agree to the policy.

“The President Buhari that I know will have no difficulty in agreeing,” he said.
The former APC chairman further alleged that the intention of CBN was to allegedly prevent the presidential election from holding on the scheduled date and scuttle APC winning chances.

“You could see that the intention of the bank is not to eliminate abuses but to stop the elections from taking place.

“If you have riots like you had in Ibadan and Benin – I don’t know anywhere else – and they were taking place simultaneously, and you are now dealing with the issue of protecting lives and properties, will elections become a priority?

“So, it is in that context that whoever scuttles the elections would have scuttled the chances of the APC winning the election,” Oshiomhole argued.