Naira Scarcity: El-Rufai Reveals How 2 Presidential Candidates Have Access to 100s of Millions of New Notes

• Governor Nasir El-Rufai has said the Naira redesign policy is not achieving the purported goal of curbing vote-buying
• Meanwhile, President Buhari said the monetary had contributed immensely to the minimisation of the influence of money in politics
• However, the Kaduna state governor has disclosed that two presidential candidates and one running mate have access to millions of new notes because they have special access to some banks

Kaduna - The governor of Kaduna state, Nasir El-Rufai, has continued to fault the controversial Naira redesign policy of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).

In a statewide broadcast in Kaduna on Thursday, February 16, Governor El-Rufai said the policy's purported goal of curbing vote-buying had been defeated.

Recall that President Muhammadu Buhari, during his nationwide broadcast, said he was aware that the new monetary policy was curbing the menace of vote-buying ahead of the 2023 general elections.

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"I am aware that this new monetary policy has also contributed immensely to the minimization of the influence of money in politics," the president had said.

Naira redesign policy not affecting politicians - El-Rufai

However, Governor El-Rufai said that the politicians that the CBN has convinced President Buhari to regard as the target of the policy have not been impeded in any way.

The Kaduna state governor said two of the presidential candidate and a running mate from the opposition parties own or have special access to some of the major banks in the country.

He added that the candidates have access to hundreds of millions of new notes, while traders, merchants, students and other citizens suffer to withdraw a few thousand Naira to buy food and necessaries.

His words:

"Yet, the politicians that the officials have convinced the President to regard as the real targets of the currency redesign policy have not been impeded in any way by it so far. Indeed, two of the presidential candidates, and a running mate of the opposition parties own or have preferred access to some of the licensed banks.

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"For that reason and by various clandestine arrangements, these politicians have access to hundreds of millions of these new notes, while the traders, merchants, students and other citizens are queuing for days to withdraw a few thousand Naira just to buy food and necessaries."

Naira redesign policy: How Buhari's chief economic adviser disagreed with Emefiele, El-Rufai speaks

Meanwhile, Governor El-Rufai has also claimed that the CBN designed the Naira redesign policy to fail.

He added that President Buhari's Chief Economic Adviser, Dr Doyin Salami, disagreed with the CBN governor, Godwin Emefiele, on the amount of cash needed for an economy to function well.

Source: Legit.ng