The spokesman for the All Progressives Congress (APC) presidential campaign organisation, Festus Keyamo, has slammed some opposition members for their support of the Central Bank of Nigeria’s naira swap policy.
According to him, the political opponents believe the directive is targeted at the APC presidential candidate, Bola Tinubu.
Keyamo, who is also the Minister of State for Labour and Productivity, wondered why members of the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) whom he said had always condemned every policy of President Muhammadu Buhari were now the ones praising him.
“All of a sudden PDP gets up from nowhere and begins to praise Buhari,” the minister said on Channels Television’s The 2023 Verdict programme on Friday,
“I say, ‘What a time to be alive.’ ‘Oh, Buhari is an honest man.’ I said, ‘Wait a minute, these are people who have always told Nigerians that Buhari’s integrity is fake; that Buhari is not an honest man.’
“Now, you wake up one morning and you are praising Buhari, because of politics, because you think in your own estimation that the policy in place is designed to curtail or to affect or harm your opponent. In that regard, they are cutting their nose to spite their faces.
“They got themselves into a mess and scored an own goal. Now, they are the ones begging Nigerians not to riot, they are now the ones begging Nigerians to support government policy, opposition. Why? Because in their perception, they think that is against Asiwaju,” he added.
Keyamo also shared his thoughts on the policy, which continues to enjoy the support of President Muhammadu Buhari.
The President in a broadcast on Thursday ordered that the old N200 banknotes remain in circulation till April 10, while the old N500 and N1,000 bills seize to serve as legal tender.
However, the policy was not well received by some governors of the APC, who approached the Supreme Court. The apex court subsequently granted an interim order putting the policy’s implementation on hold.
“My view is that the President acted honestly without intention to slight the Supreme Court, but he may have acted on wrong advice.
“I did not give that advice; it is not my responsibility. I don’t know who gave that advice. I want to say this openly because tomorrow, people will ask me where I stood at this time,” Keyamo said.