Weighing in on the debate around the the Central Bank of Nigeria’s Naira redesign policy, the presidential candidate of New Nigerian People Party (NNPP), Senator Rabiu Kwankwaso, knocked the APC governors who have criticised President Muhammadu Buhari, saying the governors’ loots are now useless.
The former Kano State governor said he was shocked that APC governors could act in that manner.
Kwankwaso said at an NNPP function, “In each state, you have branches of banks and in some states, you have even the national headquarters of those banks, on one hand we thought they (governors) would take all the billions from government houses and so on to banks.
“But we realised these same governors were abusing their leaders, insulting them, I was shocked. I never thought some of them could abuse Buhari to that level.
“On one hand, I was surprised that facts were coming out and we began to wonder what is wrong with them? Maybe the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) was right that some governors are keeping billions of naira in their compounds across the country.
“Now the policy has made that looted money completely useless, I think that is why they are angry. So we are so happy with the federal government on that, the money they have collected is completely zero, it has expired.
“And I think all agencies should keep their eyes on that and I want to assure you that our party is going to assist the federal government, especially on election day, please tell all members of NNPP to join EFCC, to join the police and other security agencies that wherever they see them trying to buy votes, please stop them.”
Meanwhile former Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon Yakubu Dogara, commended Buhari’s efforts aimed at curbing vote-buying ahead of the 2023 general election.
Dogara said he was also affected by the hardship caused by the naira redesign and currency scarcity, but pleaded with Nigerians to endure this for a few weeks and see it as a sacrifice for free, fair and credible elections.
He spoke at the weekend in Kaltungo, Gombe State, at the gathering of over 15,000 Christian youth under the auspices of Evangelical Churches Winning All (ECWA) International Youth Conference, where he was honoured with the award of service to the youths, the church and humanity.
Dogara stated, “For those critising the president on the issue of timing, I want to remind them in the words of Dr King Jnr that time is eternally neutral and the time is always ripe to do right.
“Let me end by calling on the CBN to ensure the redesigned notes are made available to our people but even if the CBN failed to do so, my plea to all Nigerians is to endure the pains for few more weeks for our votes to count and for us to elect a president we truly deserve.
“Let me emphatically say that the president has the sole constitutional powers over currency matters and all those busy running their mouths because they have been denied the opportunity to deploy the ill- gotten naira they have stashed to buy votes, they are committing treason,” he stated.
The former speaker added, “The president is absolutely right not to have given in to the greed of the few against the needs of the many. While the president is right to have acted on what he knows and in the best interest of the country, his traducers are petty, unpatriotic, treacherous and grossly irresponsible.
“I want to specifically commend President Buhari over the initiative to curb vote buying in the forthcoming general elections. I am not uninformed of nor unaffected by the hardship caused by the naira redesign and swap policy, but I want to plead with Nigerians to endure it for these few weeks as sacrifice for a free, fair and credible election.”
The former speaker stressed that Nigeria needed a steady hand, not one that must always be steadied. He emphasised, “We need a hand on which nothing dies not the hand that spills everything that is placed on it if we do not want our collective national destiny to be spilled.
“We need a grounded leader not a feckless pretender who has become a perfect gift to every level of comedy both local and internationally. By our votes, let us send a strong and clear message to those who want to foist this tasteless joke on us that Nigeria is no comedy cellar or Viva Blackpool.”
Dogara urged Nigerians to vote for Atiku.
Segun Awofadeji in Gombe
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