Atiku said with defeat staring the APC in the face, the ultimate aim of Gbajabiamila and his ilk is to ensure that the election is postponed.
By Jeffrey Agbo
The PDP’s presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, has said that the ruling party, APC, is conniving with bank executives to slow down the distribution of the new naira notes in a bid to frustrate the policy.
Atiku’s Special Assistant on Public Communication, Phrank Shaibu, stated this in a release on Sunday in reaction to a statement by the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila.
The Speaker had said in a town hall meeting with some ethnic groups in Surulere, Lagos on Sunday that Atiku was supporting the currency swap policy despite the hardship on Nigerians.
Reacting to this, Atiku said the viral videos showing government agencies busting banks hoarding the new naira notes was clear evidence of sabotage.
He said, “Intelligence reaching us is that the APC is in collusion with some top bank executives to frustrate the policy of the CBN. As shown in several trending videos posted by government agencies on social media, hundreds of millions of naira are in bank vaults but the banks are deliberately refusing to distribute them.
“It is no secret that all the commercial banks are headquartered in Lagos where Bola Tinubu holds sway as godfather.
“The ultimate goal is to frustrate the policy so that the APC will be able to bring out the old notes it has stashed for the sole purpose of vote buying and distribution with bullion vans. For this reason, we commend the EFCC and the ICPC for exposing these unscrupulous bankers.”
Atiku accused Gbajabiamila of using his position as the 4th most senior elected official in the country to play cheap politics.
He advised Gbajabiamila to play decent politics like the Senate President, Ahmad Lawan; and Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo.
He added, “It is the height of idiocy for the nation’s number four citizen to play cheap politics with a monetary policy introduced by his own party which is in power. Gbajabiamila wishes to become the chief of staff to Tinubu in the event that Tinubu wins so his overzealousness is quite understandable.
“However, his attempt to bring Atiku into this issue shows how mischievous he is. Gbajabiamila summoned the CBN Governor, Godwin Emefiele, last week where they reached an understanding and issued a resolution which the House and the CBN agreed to.
“But because he is already seeing the imminent defeat of his master at the polls, he is now playing dirty politics.
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“Nigerians must note that this is a policy being implemented by an APC government. However, the likes of Gbajabaimila are too timid to approach President Buhari to reverse this policy. His aversion for this CBN policy has nothing to do with the masses. It is about the inability of his master to deploy bullion vans on election day.”
He also described Gbajabiamila as a hypocrite who pretends to be on the side of the masses during crisis but is actually working for his own selfish reasons.
He recalled that during the eight-month strike embarked on by the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), Gbajabiamila pretended to be on the side of the lecturers only for him to abandon them at sea.
“Gbajabiamila promised the lecturers that they would be paid their arrears. After the lecturers called off their strike, he denied making the statement in the first place. Such a liar should not be believed by the masses.
“When dirty petrol was imported last February, Gbajabiamila set up a committee to investigate it. Till date he has done nothing about it. The fuel scarcity has continued to linger for over eight months but he remains mute.
“This is the same man who scuttled the ongoing probe of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) at the House of Representatives for selfish reasons,” he said.
Atiku said with defeat staring the APC in the face, the ultimate aim of Gbajabiamila and his ilk is to ensure that the election is postponed.
“This coming week the APC will sponsor protests and riots in strategic parts of the country all in a bid to force the hand of the President to reverse this policy. The EFCC and the ICPC must continue to raid banks and arrest bank workers for hoarding the new notes. The notes must be made available to honest Nigerians.
“However, huge volumes of the new notes must not get into the hands of unscrupulous politicians who plan on using bullion vans to distribute money on election day. The desperate APC must not be allowed to steal this election,” he said.
