“Fellow citizens, on the 25th of February, 2023 the nation would be electing a new President and National Assembly members. I am aware that this new monetary policy has also contributed immensely to the minimization of the influence of money in politics. This is a positive departure from the past and represents a bold legacy step by this administration, towards laying a strong foundation for free and fair elections” President M. Buhari in a broadcast to the nation 16 February 2023.
The political economy of the redesign of the Naira
A few bankers reached out to me during the past with predictable backlash calling me naive and playing the politics of the now instead of thinking of the long haul. A few rightly reminded me of the fact that Central Bank Governor , Godwin Emefiele is a public servant appointed by the. President and he must dance to the tune and call of the piper.
One asked me were you expecting him to advise the man or do as he is instructed. Another added those media photo opportunities you see of the President and the CBN governor are all staged and the visit to the Aso Rock is to receive orders and act as guided. I appreciate the feed backkeep them coming.
The Politics of Use Me I Use You
Asiwaju Bola Tinubu have claimed on a few occasions now that he helped President Mohammed Buhari to office and he should be supported same way with no strings attached.
Various media reports plus checks by the Centre for Democratic Study reveal that indeed a coalition of interesting parties helped the President to office.
The Evidence
At the grand finale of his presidential campaign at the International Conference Centre (ICC), Abuja on April 14, 2011, President Buhari had in an address titled, Creating Hope for the Future, said, “Today is exactly 18 weeks since I declared my intention to contest the presidential election, and I must say it has been a very memorable period of time for me. As always, being on the campaign trail has been for all of us a most educating experience.
Buhari said this campaign is doubly significant. First, because it is an election in which more clearly and more unambiguously than the previous two in 2003 and 2007, our victory is assured, as evidenced by the unprecedented turnout by the people and spontaneous popular acclaim all over the country. And, second, because this campaign is the third and last one for me; since, after it, I will not present myself again for election into the office of the president.” It is also on record that the president wept intermittently while delivering his 12-page speech.
Four years later, Buhari reneged on his promise, contested once again, and this time, having built a broader coalition with the help of Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, won.
It should be noted that Asiwaju played a huge role in the merger different parties in 2013 as he rallied the South West geopolitical zone to massively support the new party.
While it may be true that Mr. Tinubu pencilled down Prof. Osinbajo’s name for consideration as vice president in 2015, it cannot be ascertained if he single-handedly picked him Available evidence proves that Tinubu had a hand in the emergence of Muhammadu Buhari as the standard flag bearer of the APC in the 2015 general elections and subsequently, the ousting of an incumbent president Dr. Jonathan Goodluck.
The new campaign of integrity
What is interesting to note is the new campaign of integrity starting this last minutes of the life of the Buhari administration. One could recall the President needing N100 million for the party nomination form eight years ago and sourcing this amount from different party stalwarts. There was no question of source integrity, the money was mobilised and used. Our political party system have not matured to level crowd funding yet so politicians source this amount either from their security votes or simply ask parastals to contribute to the party election programme. Is this the right thing to do with public funds? Definitely not but that’s the system that brought the President into office. A system he did not reform in 2019 but he is now determined to cleanup on his way out of office. We wonder the agenda behind this new last minute campaign of integrity.
The verdict
Many analyst say the redesign of the naira is to truncate the ambition of Tinubu who rubbished his preferred candidate Senate President Ahmed Lawan at the APC primaries. Is the Senate President the candidate of the north or the candidate of the President? What is obvious is that the President seem ready to stifle the economy with the redesign policy and prevent money bags from hijacking the elections. So the money bags have done well by seeing to his election and re-election but would not be allowed to enthrone any person that is not in his good book.
The non-availability of the newly redesigned notes has led to hardship on the people as business owners blatantly refused to collect the old naira notes, while insisting on the new ones as a means of exchange.
Isn’t this s declaration of suffering on the populace in the face of a challenged cashless or cashlite policy.
Hence the President seems to be fighting his political battles against the well being of the people he swore to protect. What would be the legacy of this President? Time would tell as the verdict from the ballot box is due to be unveiled in a couple of days. Unfortunately he would not be on the ballot and the electorate would have to think hard before casting their votes.
Michael UMOGUN (fnimn) is a chartered marketer interested in public policy
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