Senator Adams Oshiomhole, who represents Edo North Senatorial District, has alleged that the naira redesign policy introduced by former Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Governor Godwin Emefiele contributed to Labour Party candidate Peter Obi’s victory over President Bola Tinubu in Lagos during the 2023 presidential election.
Speaking on Monday during an interview on TVC, Oshiomhole argued that the policy created widespread public anger and weakened the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) ahead of the election.
“I have said this but many people may not agree. Obi was produced by an unusual situation. When a ruling party decided to destroy itself as to make anybody running election on its platform unelectable. It is that confusion that brought those votes to Peter Obi.
“I can speak to it. Former President Muhammadu Buhari suddenly changed the colour of the currency and virtually confiscated people’s money.
“People had money in the bank, but they can’t access it, they go to ATM machine, they queue all night to get 10,000, and after a week, even the ATM were dried of cash.
“People started going to the Point-on-Sale, POS. And I remember one statement somebody made, which captured the situation, that why will you queue all night to withdraw 5000? Then you go and queue for two nights to get 10 liters of PMS and then those people expect that on election day, you will queue to vote for them?
“It is this anger that, in my view, deliberately created by the president before Tinubu that made people vote against the APC in Lagos, making Peter Obi to defeat President Tinubu,” Oshiomhole said.
