Onanuga was clarifying a report that President Tinubu asked Cardoso to resign before he left Nigeria for China in August
By Kehinde Okeowo
The Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga has debunked a report that President Bola Tinubu asked the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Yemi Cardoso to resign from his position.
He made this known in a statement on Tuesday night while clarifying a report that Tinubu asked the incumbent CBN governor to resign before he left Nigeria for China in August.
The report claimed that the president asked Cardoso to vacate his position because he couldn’t turn the naira’s fortune around and bring the currency to between ₦700 and ₦900 per dollar.
“Cardoso, who reportedly secured the nomination for the plum job through the Yoruba Elders, allegedly lacks the knack to turn around the troubled institution and the poor economy he inherited,” the report said.
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It added, “Cardoso’s undoing, according to insiders, is his inability to live up to the promise he made to President Tinubu in January to salvage the naira and return it to between N700 and N900 to $1 before May 29, 2024, and also, save the economy.”
Dismissing the report via a post he shared on his official X handle, Onanuga described it as a bundle of lies.
“It’s all lies. President Tinubu has not asked Yemi Cardoso to resign,” the president’s special adviser tweeted.
Cardoso assumed office on September 22, 2023, since then, the naira has depreciated by 124.39% in the official window and 66.83% in the parallel market.
The decline saw the naira plummet from N738/$ to N1,656 per dollar in the official market, and from N995/$ to N1,660/$ in the parallel market, as of Tuesday.
