The presidential candidate of the ruling All Progressive Congress (APC) has criticized the management of Nigeria’s foreign exchange market which has led to the depreciation of the naira, in what appears to be an attack on President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration.
The recent attack is coming some days after he criticized the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN)’s naira redesign policy and the current fuel scarcity in major cities across the country, alleging that they are part of the plots to sabotage his victory at the forthcoming presidential election.
This was made known on Tuesday evening, January 31, 2023, by Tinubu, while addressing the crowd at APC’s presidential campaign rally in Calabar, Cross River State.
Tinubu, while delivering his speech slammed the federal government for taking the exchange rate from about N200 to a dollar to about N800 a dollar in the black market.
They don’t know how to think
- The former Lagos State Governor said, “To change and the torture, they moved the exchange rate from doing N200 to N800. If they had repaired it, if they had arrested this, we won’t be where we are today, we would be greater. “They don’t know the way, they don’t know how to think, they don’t know how to do.’’
For catch up
Recall that about a week ago, Bola Tinubu, at the APC’s presidential campaign rally in Abeokuta, Ogun State, added a new twist to the current fuel scarcity across the country and the decision of the CBN to redesign the N200, N500 and 1,000 banknotes, alleging that they were planned to sabotage his victory at February presidential election by people in the current administration.
- Tinubu said, “We will use our PVCs to take over government from them. If they like let them create a fuel crisis, even if they say there is no fuel, we will trek to vote. They are full of mischief; they could say there is no fuel. They have been scheming to create a fuel crisis, but forget about it. Relax, I Asiwaju, have told you that the issue of fuel supply will be permanently addressed.
- “Whoever wants to eat the honey embedded in a mountain won’t worry about the axe. Is that not so? And if you want to eat palm kernel, you would bring stone and use it to break it, then the kernel will come out.
- “Let them increase the fuel price, let them continue to hoard fuel, only them know where they have hoarded fuel, they hoarded money, they hoarded naira; we will go and vote and we will win even if they changed the ink on naira notes. Whatever their plans, they will come to nought. We are going to win. Those in the PDP will lose.”
However, Tinubu, in a clarification, faulted reports in certain quarters that his statement was targeted at President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration.
In a statement through the Director, Media and Publicity of APC Presidential Campaign Council, Bayo Onanuga, Tinubu maintained that the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), in cahoots with fifth columnists, were the ones bent on inflicting avoidable pains on hapless Nigerians to achieve political ends.
Maybe he thinks PDP is in power and has forgotten the current government is from his party, APC.