Naira Redesign Policy Gave Us Cleaner Elections – Buhari

Former President Muhammadu Buhari has asserted that the naira redesign policy played a role in facilitating smoother conduct of the 2023 general elections, contributing to their overall cleanliness.

However, he refuted the allegation that his administration intentionally employed the naira redesign policy to inflict hardship on Nigerians.

The information was revealed in a memoir titled ‘Working with Buhari: Reflections of a Special Adviser, Media and Publicity (2015 – 2023),‘ authored by the former Special Adviser on Media and Publicity to Buhari, Femi Adesina.

The memoir was unveiled in Abuja on Tuesday.

The naira redesign policy, introduced in October 2022, was conceived and executed during the tenure of Godwin Emefiele, the former governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria.

In the 12th chapter of the memoir, it is highlighted that Buhari contested assertions that the scarcity of naira notes was intentionally aimed at causing hardship for Nigerians, but rather, “it was people who had too much money that had problems with it.”

The former president noted, “There is no denying that the naira redesign policy gave us cleaner elections.

“The scarcity of money was not deliberately done to punish Nigerians. Democracy allows people to express their will, and we did not attempt to control them. People understood the implications of their choices, and we did not force them.”