Adams Oshiomhole, a former chairman of the All Progressives Congress, has stated that the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has no business addressing corruption in Nigerian elections.
Oshiomhole contended that there was no provision in the CBN Act that empowered the central bank to ensure free and fair elections.
He lashed out at the CBN’s naira redesign policy, which he claimed was intended to reduce corruption and vote-buying during the 2023 elections.
The former Edo State Governor, who noted that currency changes were not a new phenomenon, criticized the CBN’s approach to the transition.
Speaking on Channels Television on Sunday night, Oshiomhole stated that the apex bank made no consultations before making a decision.
He said;
There was no consultation, not even within the government, at least the Minister of Finance cried out and she warned that there could be economic consequences arising from this decision, he said.
But even worse is that you want me to change my old clothes by fire by force. I’m willing to do so… You told me to remove the old clothes that I’d need a new one. I’ve removed the old clothes but the new ones are not available, and you leave me naked. And then you tell me that I can’t take more than N20,000 from my own money, in a country in which…in part, because of the CBN monetary policies, which have led to massive devaluation, a bag of rice in naira terms costs N30,000. So, if you spend N35,000 or N30,000 to buy a bag of rice, CBN has a policy that says you can’t take more than N20,000, that is where the ATM is working. Which means you will have to queue all day to take money enough to pay for half a bag. And if you need a whole bag, you have to queue another day to raise N40,000 to buy a bag of rice…this is not sensible.
He stated that the CBN did not act wisely and that it was incorrect for the apex bank to assume that every Nigerian was corrupt because the CBN was not one of the institutions charged with ensuring free, fair, and credible elections.
To assume that every Nigerian is corrupt…and that this policy is meant to check corruption; the CBN is not part of the institutions charged with the responsibility of ensuring free, fair and credible elections. That is not in the Act establishing the CBN, Oshiomhole added.