A spokesman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), appears to know the consequence of supporting the cashless policy that the Nigerian government is implementing. That police is causing so much Naira scarcity.
Festus Keyamo is a Minister in President Muhammadu Buhari’s cabinet, but he speaks against the cashless policy of the government.
He says it will have serious consequences on the opposition parties.
Mr Keyamo, who is a senior attorney, says the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and Labour Party (LP) have refused to side with the masses during a trying times.
He says they would lose votes at the polls, as a result.
Some APC governors and chieftains have urged the masses to disobey the presidential order on the legality of the old naira notes.
Even the APC presidential candidate, Bola Ahmed Tinubu has spoken against the decision of the ruling APC.
However, the opposition LP and PDP have been pleading with the masses to understand the decision of the government and endure the Naira scarcity.
They have over-dribbled themselves and scored an own goal in the process, Festus Keyamo a spokesman for the APC Presidential Campaign Council (PCC) says.
Convoluted And Confusing Situation
Keyamo believes that not picking sides with the masses and condemning the government would affect their votes.
“Now you see a situation that we found ourselves in, a very convoluted and confusing situation, a situation where the government policy on naira redesign is affecting the masses negatively because of wrong implementation and wrong timing.
“Instead of the opposition siding with the masses and urging them to vote out the ruling party, it is now the opposition that is telling people to be patient.
“It is the same opposition that is telling Nigerians that Buhari is an honest man and he meant well for the country.
“They have over dribbled themselves and scored an own goal in the process,” he said.
You Might Like: One Dead As Gunmen Attack APC Supporters In Ebonyi
Mr Keyamo believes that the opposition has turned the entire issue into politics and ended up shooting themselves in the foot.
“They perceived that the policy was crippling Sen. Bola Tinubu, the APC Presidential Candidate because they see everything as politics.
“In their bid to heat Tinubu, they now decided to go against Nigeria masses, this is where they over dribbled themselves.
“Meanwhile, Tinubu who is in the ruling party has spoken against those implementing the policy to say that they are sabotaging the policy.
“So, the masses now see Tinubu as their hero,” he said.
Naira Redesign Policy
In 2022, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) announced the redesign of the ₦200, ₦500, and, ₦1,000 notes.
The CBN gave a January 31st deadline for the swap of the old naira notes to the new ones.
However, seeing as the new naira had yet to be circulated fully by then, the CBN extended it till February 10.
Nigerians had hoped the CBN or the Federal Government would further extend the deadline.
However, President Muhammadu Buhari only approved the extension of the ₦200 notes while declaring the rest as illegal tender.