APC has stashed old notes in safehouses for vote-buying, PDP PCC alleges
The arguments over the merits of the Naira policy enacted by the Central Bank of Nigeria has elicited more reactions from stakeholders and political parties.
Earlier, governors elected under the platform of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) appealed to President Muhammadu Buhari to allow both the old and new naira notes co-circulate until the end of the year.
The governors said this on Friday, February 3, after they met the president to seek solutions to the cash crunch recorded across Nigeria, which they said was threatening the ‘good records’ of the administration in transforming the economy.
According to a statement signed by presidential spokesperson, Garba Shehu, the governors said they were in support of the policy and were convinced about the intent behind its thinking.
However, they expressed concerns about the negative impact of the policy which has had a debilitating effect on Nigerians.
“They told the president that, as leaders within the party and the government in their various states, they were becoming anxious regarding the economic impact and the potential erosion to our democratic process, particularly the upcoming general elections,” the statement said.
“They, therefore, requested that the president directs an adequate injection of the new notes and the continued utilisation of the old ones until the end of the year.”
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However, the presidential campaign council of the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in its response accused the APC governors of harboring ulterior motives over the CBN’s policy.
Speaking on AriseTV, Daniel Bwala, the spokesman of the PDP council, on Wednesday, alleged that the APC politicians had stacked old monies in safehouses across the country in order to engage in vote-buying.
According to him, this was the main reason they pressured the President over a suspension of the mandate while petitioning the Supreme Court on the matter.
“This fear is the reason for calls for extension in the electoral timetable and the CBN Naira swap policy. All of these protests are aggravated in APC-led states and this will make the security agencies to write the President for an extension in the polls. Even El-Rufai told Kaduna residents to continue spending the old notes in order to encourage vote-buying.
“The APC has stashed old monies across safe houses in the country in order to use for vote-buying which is why they are against the policy.
“These policies emanated from the APC government and they have fallen short in calling the President a moron. They said it is the Presidency manipulating him, which means they are saying the President lacks critical thinking. How does this connect to the PDP?
“Apart from the APC, the other parties agree with the Naira policy as can be seen with the withdrawal warning issued by 13 of the political parties over the issue,” Bwala claimed.