Naira Shortage: Peter Obi Conniving With Banks To Hurt Nigerians – APC PCC

The presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP), Peter Obi, has been accused with conspiring with bank executives to cause hardship for Nigerians, according to the All Progressives Congress Presidential Campaign Council (APC-PCC).

The APC-PCC was responding to a comment made by Peter Obi, who supported the Central Bank of Nigeria’s stance of currency reform (CBN).

The candidate for the Labour Party had said on Sunday that the currency reform will have long-term benefits for the economy and society.

“The currency redesign is not peculiar to Nigeria. It is an exercise that comes with some inconvenience and pain, but it has significant long-term economic and social benefits. Even though there are improvements that can be made,” Obi tweeted.

However, Remi Omowaiye, a spokeswoman for the APC PCC in Osun State, claimed in a statement that the CBN was trying to “inflict pain on Nigerians”

According to him, Peter Obi’s reply demonstrates that, given his connection to the Nigerian banking sector, his commercial interests outweigh those of Nigerians.

Omowaiye said: “I am not surprised that Peter Obi is doing this. He has been a chairman of a bank before, and most of the bankers are benefitting from this hardship, so I understand where he is coming from. Peter Obi has serious interest in Fidelity Bank. He went to keep Anambra money in the fidelity bank, which he ought to have been used to develop the state.

“Peter Obi has once again displayed to us and demonstrated to us that his business interest supersedes the interest of Nigerians because I don’t expect him to come out and start defending this policy. I would have expected him to sympathize with Nigerians and condemn this policy, this is the same way he has failed to condemn IPOB over the killing of innocent people.”

While urging the CBN to develop effective strategies that would help Nigerians rather than make them suffer, the APC spokesperson said Obi wants to gain political profits from the agony of Nigerians.

He added, “It is very important that this is a very ill-time policy. We are not saying they should not change currency, but there should be enough strategy on how to do this. You collected old money from people, you forced us to bring old money to the bank, now it is the old money that you are returning back to people. It is obvious that Obi wants to gain political profits from the agony of Nigerians.

“How did you explain it, people have money in the bank, but they can’t access their money. There is unrest in some towns in Nigeria. Two people have been killed in Ibadan, there was also demonstration in Warri, people are going through hard times because of this policy.”