The debate over the contentious naira redesign/cash swap policy implemented by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has continued to rage in the country’s political space ahead of the general elections. A renowned northern activist and public affairs analyst, Dr. Shehu Mahdi, has come forward to reveal the most recent stunts being used by public officeholders in his region to buy votes in the upcoming elections.
On Monday, Mahdi claimed in an interview with Africa Independent Television (AIT) that as of last Friday, a northern governor had ordered six billion naira to be taken from one of the state local government accounts, and that a large portion of the money had been converted into the “CFA Franc,” which is the equient to the currency of the neighbouring country.
In his words: “There is a governor who only last Friday authorized the withdrawal of 6.4 billion naira from a state-wide joint local government account. to buy what? to purchase 500,000 clothes items and 500,000 bags of bagged rice weighing 5 kg (wrappers). 32 trucks of NPK fertilizer, 32 trucks of Uria fertilizer, and 500,000 packets of bath soap are also on their shopping list.
Next, for 1.6 billion naira, he purchased Nigerien CFA currency. To what end? to purchase votes the exact same thing that the President was attempting to eradicate. Here, we’re referring to one of those northern states that borders the Niger Republic. It’s not just a guess because I have my sources and this happened just last week Friday, and I still maintain I have sources.”
Content created and supplied by: KINGSIFY (via Opera
News )