Former President, Muhammadu Buhari, stated on Tuesday that former Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Godwin Emefiele’s naira redesign policy assured that the 2023 general elections were “cleaner.”
He added that it would be “unfair and an act of injustice to remove him, acting on hearsay” because there was no firm evidence against Emefiele while he (Buhari) was in office.
This was one of the assertions made by the former President in a book titled “Working with Buhari: Reflections of a Special Adviser, Media and Publicity (2015 – 2023)” authored by his former Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Femi Adesina, and presented in Abuja on Tuesday.
Recall that many Nigerians had decried the naira redesign policy, which resulted in a cash shortage in bank halls and ATMs across the country for several months before the 2023 elections.
Some members of the ruling All Progressives Congress also claimed that the policy had an impact on the party’s performance in the 2023 elections.
Buhari, who defended his decision to keep Emefiele in office for the eight years he remained in power, claimed that only those with too much money opposed the currency redesign strategy.
“The scarcity of money was not deliberately done to punish Nigerians. Democracy allows people to express their will, and we did not attempt to control them. People understood the implications of their choices, and we did not force them,” the former President was quoted by PMNews.
He continued: “There is no denying that the naira redesign policy gave us cleaner elections. It was people who had too much money that had problems with it.
“When it was said that the new notes were not available, over N260 million was found with one bank chairman. Did I take on the Supreme Court on the issue? No, I could not have.
“Some APC governors went to court. I refused to judge people by my own standard, I am not materialistic, but it will be too much to expect all Nigerians to be the same way. It is not fair to condemn anybody, but it is up to them and their conscience. I want to continue to conduct myself with clear conscience, so that when I go to bed, I sleep off immediately”, the book read.
The President further stated that he did not fire Godwin Emefiele for allegedly attempting to run for president since the former CBN Governor never addressed his goal with him.
“I met Emefiele in office when I came, and unless there was firm evidence against him, it would be unfair and an act of injustice to remove him, acting on hearsay.
“If you punish a man unjustly, it could dog his footsteps throughout life, so if you would punish, you must have evidence and you should know that yourself wouldn’t be there forever. You would leave one day.
“I’m very conscious about the morale of people who serve with me. I also expect whoever succeeds me to be fair to me. I have family, friends, who will feel it. I’m very conscious of fairness.
“When he was linked with campaign for 2023 presidency, I did not ask him, because he told nobody he was getting involved. Otherwise, I would have removed him and told the nation why.”