The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) says it has uncovered a clandestine plot by APC leaders allegedly working for the Presidential Candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu to swap N22.5 billion stashed old Naira notes to new ones in Kano State, in a desperate move to actualize APC vote buying plans in the 2023 general elections.
In a statement by its spokesman, Hon. Debo Ologunagba, the PDP asserted that information available to the party revealed that this criminal act by the APC which is responsible for the biting cash scarcity is being coordinated in the North West region of our country by two APC State Governors who ironically have been very vocal in lamentation over the prevailing cash crunch.
“The PDP has been made aware that the N22.5 billion in old N1000 notes was allegedly kept in a Kano State Government facility before being moved to a particular old generation and a certain new generation bank where the regional heads were contacted by the APC Presidential Campaign to swap the old notes with new ones.
“Further information revealed that the cash is being warehoused by the Tinubu Campaign for vote buying in Kano, Kaduna, Bauchi, Jigawa and Sokoto States. A particular APC State governor is reported to have taken delivery of N500 million new Naira notes to actualize the vote buying plot.
“Also, there are intelligence that arrangement has been concluded by APC leaders to move a substantial part of the old naira notes from Kano to Lagos State between today and tomorrow for the purposes of swapping them with new ones.
“It would be recalled that the PDP had earlier alerted Nigerians that corrupt APC leaders are compromising the system to mop up the new bank notes for their selfish vote-buying plans ahead of the February 25, 2023 Presidential election.
“The party alerts the security agencies and the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) of this nefarious activity by APC leaders which is bringing untold hardship to Nigerians,” the PDP statement partly read.
The opposition party demanded an immediate action to stop APC in “this criminal act” as well as to recover the money and make the new Naira notes available to the public.
The PDP called on all Nigerians to firmly resist the APC in this heinous attempt to buy their conscience and subject them to another harrowing tenure of killings, violence, kidnapping and economic hardship that have become the hallmark of the APC administration in the last seven and half years.
The party also urged Nigerians to remain steadfast in their support for the PDP Presidential Candidate, Atiku Abubakar, who has demonstrated the integrity, honesty, capacity, experience and readiness to get the system to work for the good of all immediately he assumes office, come May 29, 2023.