He said only inordinately ambitious politicians like Tinubu that run activities with bullion vans and raw cash are afraid of the new Naira design.
The presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Atiku Abubakar, has berated the Governor of Kaduna State, Nasir El-Rufai, for dissociating the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) and its presidential candidate, Bola Tinubu, from some of the policies of the current administration led by President Muhammadu Buhari.
El-Rufai, had during an interview on Channels Television said the decision of the Buhari administration to redesign the Naira and mop it up in a very short period could ignite voters to reject the ruling party at the 25 February presidential election.
Reacting, Phrank Shaibu, Special Assistant, Public Communications to Atiku Abubakar, said only inordinately ambitious politicians like Tinubu that run activities with bullion vans and raw cash are afraid of the new Naira design.
The statement read, “The remarks credited to the Governor of Kaduna State, Mallam Nasir el-Rufai concerning the crisis arising from the currency scarcity across the country
“At a point when the masses of Nigeria are groaning under the weight of the currency crunch, it remains inglorious that the Kaduna State governor would, rather than sympathise with the masses, prefer to go on political entanglement over the issue.
“For the avoidance of doubt, the currency crisis (and indeed all other crises), as it stands today, is a mess created by the APC and it will be imprudent of the Kaduna State governor or anyone else to associate the PDP or its presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar with the crisis.
“It is curious why Governor el-Rufai and other elements of his ilk in the APC had to wait this long before they found it contingent to speak in disapproval of policies initiated by their own political party. Perhaps, it is because for them, self-interest in an election season is more important than public interest.
“As a matter of fact, the lingering fuel scarcity and, indeed, the currency crisis of which el-Rufai so bitterly complained about did not just start today. In major cities across the country, Nigerians have been contending with the problem of fuel scarcity for almost two years in some places like the Federal Capital Territory, while el-Rufai and others crying foul in the APC turned blind eyes to the plight of Nigerians.
“On the contrary, Atiku Abubakar and the PDP have persistently brought the attention of the country to the sufferings of Nigerians by the APC administration in the past almost eight years.
“Nigerians surely know better who loves them more between Atiku who has remained on the side of the masses and the presidential candidate of the APC, Bola Tinubu who has never come out in defence of the people against the hardship that the APC has subjected the country to since it took power in 2015.
“If Mallam el-Rufai is interested in knowing who hates the people of Nigeria, he should look in the direction of his political master who drove two bullion vans into his residence on the eve of election day in 2019.
“The APC and their presidential candidate are crying foul to the currency change policy because they fear the policy will frustrate their plan to take advantage of the impoverishment of Nigerians by the APC through vote buying, a situation that has already commenced, in the 2023 election.
“Of course, the ordinary masses of Nigeria cannot stand up to the evil plans of the APC, but that is where Atiku comes in as the bulwark of anti-democratic forces.
“Atiku loves the people of Nigeria, and he has sufficiently demonstrated his love even at times when it was risky to do so. What Atiku hates, on the other hand, are politicians whose only intention is to compromise the electoral process through monetary inducement.
“We know those politicians who keep stacks of monies at home and in bullion vans to buy votes. They are the ones who, the once upright Mallam el-Rufai comes to the open to defend, and they are the ones who are afraid of the currency change policy.”
