Currency Printing: PDP Demands Finance Minister’s Sack

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has condemned the attempt by the President Muhammadu Buhari-led administration to deny the printing of N60 billion by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) at its behest.

The party in a statement by the National Publicity Secretary, Kola Ologbondiyan, asserted that the admission by CBN Governor, Godwin Emefiele, that the apex bank had been printing money at the bidding of government, had vindicated its earlier stand that the Buhari-led APC administration was characterized by concealments, deceit and falsehood.

The main opposition party also flayed the Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Mrs Zainab Ahmed, for attempting to mislead Nigerians by denying the revelations by the Edo state Governor, Godwin Obaseki, that N60 billion was printed in March to support federal allocation to states.https://googleads.g.doubleclick.net/pagead/ads?client=ca-pub-5006750317449676&output=html&h=280&adk=1224873724&adf=1239096476&pi=t.aa~a.4037895998~i.17~rp.4&w=696&fwrn=4&fwrnh=100&lmt=1618681380&num_ads=1&rafmt=1&armr=3&sem=mc&pwprc=1888619928&tp=site_kit&psa=1&ad_type=text_image&format=696×280&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.theconclaveng.com%2Fcurrency-printing-pdp-demands-finance-ministers-sack%2F&flash=0&fwr=0&pra=3&rh=174&rw=696&rpe=1&resp_fmts=3&wgl=1&fa=27&dt=1618680936710&bpp=4&bdt=20722&idt=5&shv=r20210414&cbv=r20190131&ptt=9&saldr=aa&abxe=1&cookie=ID%3D0e219fc1724482b4-224bd82248a60026%3AT%3D1602676713%3ART%3D1602676713%3AS%3DALNI_Mb-uqyblGQIR9kBxBW8wJ_acrYG5g&prev_fmts=0x0%2C728x90&nras=2&correlator=6869850641339&frm=20&pv=1&ga_vid=671437288.1598107181&ga_sid=1618680934&ga_hid=225274587&ga_fc=0&u_tz=60&u_his=1&u_java=0&u_h=768&u_w=1366&u_ah=728&u_aw=1366&u_cd=24&u_nplug=3&u_nmime=4&adx=131&ady=1433&biw=1329&bih=604&scr_x=0&scr_y=0&eid=44735931%2C44740079&oid=3&pvsid=1662794142357285&pem=320&ref=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.theconclaveng.com%2Fwp-content%2Fplugins%2Fonesignal-free-web-push-notifications%2Fsdk_files%2FOneSignalSDKUpdaterWorker.js.php%3FappId%3Defa15bd9-eef6-4cbc-9bf1-e853e0edec9f&eae=0&fc=1408&brdim=4%2C0%2C4%2C0%2C1366%2C0%2C1362%2C728%2C1346%2C604&vis=1&rsz=%7C%7Cs%7C&abl=NS&fu=128&bc=31&ifi=5&uci=a!5&btvi=2&fsb=1&xpc=EA5SiJMVDk&p=https%3A//www.theconclaveng.com&dtd=M

The party said Governor Obaseki, as a financial expert, who is not known for flippancy, must be commended for his act of patriotism in exposing the dire economic situation Nigeria had been plunged under the Buhari administration.

“A situation where the Federal Government cannot articulate and implement policies favourable to wealth creation but resorting to borrowing and indiscriminate printing of currency notes, only goes to further confirm that the Buhari administration lacks the credibility and capacity to run a nation.

“Indeed, the admission by the CBN governor that “Nigeria is unfortunately in a very bad situation” further justifies our position that the Buhari-led APC administration has wrecked the economy of our nation.

“Our party is worried over the huge negative impact of indiscriminate printing of currency which has led to the unprecedented rise in inflation rate to 18.17% as disclosed by the Bureau of National Statistics (NBS) on Thursday.

“This situation has led to further economic hardship with surging prices and fallen purchasing power throwing millions of families in distress and unable to afford the basic necessities of life,” PDP said.

The party called out President Buhari to come clean on the amount that had been printed so far by the CBN to finance the deficit caused by the financial mismanagement of his government as well as what the funds had been used for.

The PDP also demanded that the Minister of Finance should immediately be relieved of her position for failing the full disclosure test, while the President should accept responsibility for the indiscriminate printing of currency in our naira.

The party implored President Buhari to save the nation by allowing better hands to manage and salvage the economy before it was too late.