By Seyi Odewale

The former Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Comrade Adams Oshiomhole, yesterday knocked the Central Bank of Nigeria’s (CBNs) recent policy of redesigning of some denominations of the nation’s currency and the hardship Nigerians face in getting the new notes as ill-timed and deliberate to scuttle the forthcoming general elections.

According to Oshiomhole, who faulted the policy, it was senseless and a plot by the apex bank to scuttle the general elections, adding that the governor of the central bank, Godwin Emefiele, tricked President Muhammadu Buhari and sold an anti-corruption motive to him, which made him approve the policy.

Oshiomhole spoke yesterday in an interview on the a Channels Television politics programme when asked to comment on the recent outburst of the Kaduna State governor, Mallam Nasir el-Rufia, who said there were certain elements in the presidency aiming to scuttle the next general election and working against the success of the APC presidential standard bearer, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu.

“I can guess that in obtaining the approval, which the president gave, I believe the CBN governor deceived the president by amplifying it that if we must have a corruption free election, as if the election is the only project which the president has responsibility for,” he said.

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According to Oshiomhole, the CBN governor acted on another motive other than protecting the currency. He claimed that the CBN sold to the President that redesigning the naira notes would curb vote buying and thus catch corrupt politicians off guard. “The President Buhari that I know will have no difficulty in agreeing,” he said, arguing that the CBN governor Godwin Emefiele “knows better than that”.

Oshiomhole claimed the apex bank had other motives. “You could see that the intention of the Bank is not to eliminate abuses but to stop the elections from taking place,” he said.

According to him, the move was meant to cause unrest, shift the government’s attention, and ultimately make the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) lose the elections. “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?” the APC chieftain asked.

He added: “So, it is in that context that whoever scuttles the elections would have scuttled the chances of the APC winning the election,” he said, adding: “So, it is in that context that whoever scuttles the elections would have scuttled the chances of the APC winning the election.”

President Buhari last year approved the redesign of the N1,000, N500, and N200 notes. The move has, however, created hardship among Nigerians who battle to get the new notes as the February 10 deadline for the currency swap inches closer. In the wake of the naira swap crisis, the CBN governor maintained he would not extend the deadline.

The former Edo State governor and the APC Senatorial candidate for Edo North Senatorial District added that rigging, vote buying, and ballot box snatching would be difficult in the next election as those seeking election are now afraid of the electorate.
He prided himself as being on record as a campaigner of one man, one vote, which he claimed was instrumental to his election into office when he sought a re-election as Edo State governor.