LAGOS, Nigeria (VOICE OF NAIJA)- The Peoples Democratic Party’s (PDP) Presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, has claimed that statements made by APC Governors over the naira redesign program have created the conditions for Anarchy.
The PDP candidate expressed concerns for Nigerians in a statement by his Special Assistant on Public Communications, Mr. Phrank Shaibu, on the hardship caused by the naira scarcity.
Atiku said that rioters have been inspired to destroy commercial banks by the APC Governors’ inflammatory remarks, in which they threatened to close banks if customers continued to use the old currency.
According to him, the Ogun State Governor, Dapo Abiodun was acting in a dictatorial manner when he threatened to remove the certificate of occupancy of banks that refused to accept the old notes. This led to rebellious behavior.
He also criticized the Governors of Kaduna State, Nasir el-Rufai, and Kano State, Abdullahi Ganduje, accusing them of attempting to incite civil disobedience in their states.
“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,” he said.
In response, Atiku Abubakar was urged to forget running for President by Bola Ahmed Tinubu of the APC, who said that the present naira swap issue would not benefit him politically.
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.”