The presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, Atiku Abubakar has been accused of working in tandem with some cabal in the presidential villa to disrupt the 2023 general elections.
Making the accusation was The Joint Front of Civil Society Organizations of Nigeria (JFCSON) after the former Vice-president opposed the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN’s currency swap extention deadline by 10 days.
In a statement by Barnabas Bala Yock, the National President of JFCSON, he said Atiku’s recent remarks opposing the extension of the deadline for the swap, and PDP’s challenge to the All progressives Congress, presidential candidate, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu’s patriotic intervention have confirmed that him and his party are part of the dangerous collaboration to tamper with due democratic processes and bring about greater conflict that will derail the system
According to Yock, stated that JFCSON has followed Naira redesign developments since October when the Central Bank of Nigeria under its Governor, Godwin Emefiele announced a controversial policy of naira notes redesign.
“We watched how Emefiele insisted unnecessarily on the imposition of an unreasonable, unrealistic time frame of 30 days for the old naira notes to cease to be legal tender, in total denial of the obvious national deficiency in the necessary technological infrastructure for the process.
“This was followed by another announcement by the CBN of a cash withdrawal limit of just 20, 000 a day which was later reviewed to 50,000 following a spontaneous national backlash.
“We note also Emefiele’s rigid insistence on the implementation of these harsh, inhuman and insensitive cash policies to a point of neglecting their widespread rejection by the vast majority of Nigerians including the National Assembly and all state governors.
“We note the patriotic intervention of the ruling party’s presidential candidate, Bola Ahmed Tinubu whose courageous outburst exposed a sinister agenda for the destabilization of the nation and consequent scuttling of a smooth transition to a freely and fairly elected successive administration.
“This intervention succeeded in forcing the CBN Governor and his collaborators to recant and adjust the naira swap deadline by another 10 days.
“It has also exposed a grand connivance between the opposition Peoples Democratic Party, its presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar and a clique in the Presidential Villa to execute this diabolical scheme.
“The intervention by Tinubu was generally welcomed by all, except the PDP and its presidential candidate whose personal wealth and personal ambition remained tied to the continuation of decay and destruction of a nation and a people.
“Atiku’s recent remarks opposing the extension of the deadline for the swap, and PDP’s challenge to the Asiwaju patriotic intervention have confirmed that Atiku and the PDP are part of the dangerous collaboration to tamper with due democratic processes and bring about greater conflict that will derail the system.
“We find it quite unfortunate, unbecoming and unstatesmanlike, unforgivable and unacceptable for Atiku, a man who has spent most of his life asking Nigerians to trust him with leadership to be among those encouraging policies that potentially affect negatively, the lives and livelihoods of the same people he seeks to rule.”
While condemning imposition of harsh policies on people just to weaken and pauparise them economically, JFCSON also reject the mean 10 days extension of the deadline for the currency swap and what they described as ‘inhuman’ cash withdrawal limit.
“We condemn the open support for these policies by the PDP and its presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar. We call on Nigerian voters to note those political office seekers and to remember those who stood with and by the people and those who attempted to take advantage of the people’s weakness by supporting the imposition of harsh economic realities on the nation.
“We call on all segments of the Nigerian nation to unite in the coming elections ork to reject politicians who think power is an end in itself; who mobilize the people only during elections, sowing seeds of division and leaving everyone poorer and more insecure than they were.
“We appreciate the courageous intervention of Tinubu and the endorsement of the truth by the Nigerian First Lady Aisha Buhari and bold exposition of the presidency elements by Governor Nasir El-Rufai.