Former governor of Edo state, Adams Oshiomhole, says the Central Bank of Nigeria deceived President Muhammadu Buhari into approving the naira redesign policy.
Oshiomhole spoke during an interview on Channels Television on Sunday.
He claimed that the CBN sold to the President that a redesigning of the naira notes would curb vote buying and thus catch corrupt politicians off guard.
Oshiomhole has faulted the policy, describing it as senseless and a plot by the apex bank to scuttle the general elections. According to him, 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 election is the only project this President has a responsibility for,” he said.
“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”.
Away from this, 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 quizzed.
“So, it is in that context that whoever scuttles the elections would have scuttled the chances of the APC winning the election.”
