We Will Speak Truth To Power – APC Chieftain Faults Buhari, CBN Over Naira Policy

A chieftain of the ruling All Progressives Congress, Mustapha Audu, has faulted President Muhammadu Buhari over the naira policy introduced by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) with his consent.

Naija News reports that there have been a series of controversies and knocks on Buhari’s administration over newly implemented monetary policies.

The presidential candidate of the APC, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, and the Governor of Kaduna State, Malam Nasir El-Rufai, were among the top members of the ruling party to first condemn the policy.

Some northern governors also dragged the federal government to court over the development, which, according to them, has brought hardship to citizens of their various states.

Some Nigerians have though observed that the governors acted in their selfish interests, Naija News reports.

But speaking on Tuesday while appearing live on Arise Television programme, Audu, who currently is the Spokesperson of the APC Presidential Campaign Council (PCC), North Central, said the President is making the right moves at the wrong time.

According to him, though the Nigerian leader meant well for the country, especially in the face of the 2023 election, the Naira policy implementation timing was wrong.

He said: “There are some policies of the government that are not so great to the Nigerian people. We’ve to be honest. The President has implemented some policies to clean up the election, like the cash swap policy, but obviously, you can see some sabotage in the implementation. You can see there are negative effects on Nigerians.”

If Something Is Wrong, We Are Going To Speak Against It

Speaking further during the interview, Audu said the APC is filled with intellectual people, and they have to speak out if they notice something is going wrong.

He said that despite the economic benefits of the naira policy, people are suffering so much from its negativity.

Audu said: “Sometimes you have to weigh the cost-benefit of some policies to see when to implement them. We’re very dynamic and intelligent people in APC. When we know something is going right, we praise it, and when we know something is not going right we’re going to speak against it. There’s no point glamorizing what does not work; you have to say it.

“You have to speak the truth to power if there are problems and build on the ones that are good. A lot of us were worried about the cash policy. You can see the economic benefits vs the negativity we are suffering right now.

“So these are the things we’re fighting against right now as a party. We, as a party, came together to fight certain things. Let’s take the cash crunch that is hitting Nigeria, for instance, which I’d affect the farmers and people in the hinterland.

“The thought behind it was to clean the election. He wants to leave the legacy of clean elections. But people say that this is the time Nigerians move around every election.”

He added: “Every four years this is the time Nigerians move the most. So, making cash available is bad for the election, bad for logistics, it’s bad for the military and the police. Implementation Of it at this point and in this manner is bad.”