Former Edo State Governor, Adams Oshiomhole, says the naira redesigned policy was designed to scuttle the 2023 general election.

Oshiomhole said the policy was “ill-conceived, not well-thought-out, and poorly timed”, adding that the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Godwin Emefiele, used President Muhammadu Buhari’s anti-corruption posture to achieve other objectives.

The former Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) President said this on Channels Television programme, ‘The 2023 Verdict’, on Sunday.

Oshiomhole stated that the policy was conceived by Emefiele to deceive President Buhari ahead of the 2023 general election.

The former National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC) said: “I am sorry to say that it is not a secret that he wanted to contest for the APC presidential ticket.

“He bought N100 million APC nomination form and the President directed that all those who wanted to contest for the presidential ticket should resign their appointments.

“I remember that during that time he went to the Villa, I believe, he went to consult and when they asked him if he had been cleared to proceed on his political ambition, he said, there will be big news soon.

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“The only news we have heard is this change of currency. We have not heard the news of why he didn’t proceed with his political ambition.

“We didn’t hear anything from him. The only news we heard is the naira redesign. Emefiele could have chosen a policy that will discredit the party.

“And unfortunately, everybody knows that President Buhari’s constituency in Nigeria is the army of the poor.

“The elite have never supported him. And it is these poor people who are hit the most by this policy.

“When you talk about vote buying, we have moved from a situation that all you need is to compromise the police and the INEC, then, you write the results and they are declared and you start balancing the ballot paper later.

“You can see that the tension in the bank is not to eliminate abuses, but to prevent the election from taking place.

“The policy will hurt the election process as the INEC will have to revise its budget as the allocated funds to buy PMS and to bring election materials cannot meet that need now.

“It is in that context that whoever scuttles the election would have scuttled the chances of the APC winning the election,” Oshiomhole stated.

The Star