Governor Godwin Obaseki of Edo State has berated the proposed plan by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to redesign naira notes declaring that the move is “political”.
This was just as the governor said the redesigning of the nation’s currency shouldn’t be a priority because according to him, the majority of citizens are suffering from hunger, poverty and economic hardship.
Obaseki also claimed the move was a ploy by the All Progressives Congress (APC)-led government to sway voters ahead of the 2023 general elections.
He stated this while inaugurating the Edo State Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Women Campaign Council at the Presidential Campaign Secretariat in Benin City, Edo State capital.
According to him, “I am an economist and I can tell you categorically that this policy by the CBN and Federal Government has no basis in Nigeria’s economy. There is no reason to do this; the move is purely political as there is no urgency in changing our currency.
“The urgency is on how to get food for our citizens to remove starvation and hunger from the land. The urgency is on how to maintain discipline in our monetary policy so that we can manage our foreign exchange rate because we are import dependent.”
Continuing, the governor said: “We can’t allow those managing our country (APC) to continue because if we allow the APC government to continue, the country will fail as the country is already failing.
“The 2023 general election is for the continuous existence of Nigeria. If the country must not fail, then we need to vote out APC as a party.
“Our party, the PDP is organic and our candidate, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, is the best amongst all. The party has the structure to win the election next year.
“APC has stolen our money and wants to use it to impose themselves on Nigerians come 2023 general election. They have stocked up a lot and want to bring the money. Don’t be afraid, collect the money and vote them out like you did in Edo in the 2020 governorship election”.