The Presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Atiku Abubakar, has accused governors of the All Progressives Congress (APC) of preparing the ground for anarchy through their utterances over the naira redesign policy.
In a statement by his Special Assistant on Public Communications Mr Phrank Shaibu, the PDP candidate sympathised with Nigerians over the hardship they face over the naira scarcity.
Shaibu, however, said the inciting comments by some APC governors wherein they threatened to shut banks rejecting the old notes had emboldened rioters to burn down commercial banks.
He said Ogun State Governor Dapo Abiodun, who had threatened to revoke the certificate of occupancy of banks rejecting the old notes, was acting like a dictator, and this had evoked rebellious actions.
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Naira redesign: APC governors provoking anarchy, says Atiku
Shaibu also knocked Kaduna State Governor, Nasir el-Rufai and Abdullahi Ganduje of Kano State, accusing them of trying to provoke civil disobedience in their states.
He said, “The APC and their governors do not love the masses. Their only grouse is their inability to buy votes because of this policy. Nigerians must not be deceived by these unscrupulous politicians.”
In a reaction, the APC presidential candidate, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, asked Atiku Abubakar to forget the presidency, saying he will not gain any political advantage from the current naira swap crisis.
Tinubu in a statement by the director, Media and Publicity of the APC Presidential Campaign Council, Bayo Onanuga, said Atiku’s position on the naira swap policy shows he is “anti-people.”
He said, “In line with his well-documented inconsistencies and unreliability, Atiku has advanced several contradictory positions, in the fruitless hope of gaining political advantage from the crisis.
“Amid the widespread misery and the currency scarcity that the naira swap policy created for Nigerians, Atiku’s position proved once again an egregious miscalculation and clearly anti-people.
“But with just five days away from the presidential election, Atiku wants to cash in on the mood of the country with his latest faux empathy.”
By Baba Martins & Saawua Terzungwe
