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Buhari Aims to Destroy APC, Democracy with Naira Redesign, Says Ganduje
Kano State governor, Abdullahi Ganduje, has lashed out at the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari over its Naira redesign policy, predicting that it may hurt the chances of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) in the general election, and adversely affect democratic rule in the country.
Ganduje, an ally of the APC presidential candidate, Bola Tinubu, made the claim on Wednesday, during a meeting with a group of former National Assembly members from the North West.
The governor of the commercial hub of northern Nigeria said the policy should have been introduced seven years ago, or after the election.
Ganduje said President Buhari, by implementing the policy close to an election, will destroy the party on which platform he became president for two consecutive terms.
“No doubt we know the importance of politicians. That’s why now, when you look at what’s happening, it can make you weep.
“Look at this person, who had contested several times without winning. No sooner than a merger took place, he won an election. After four years, he got re-elected. Now he is going after his tenure but there is nothing he is doing than to destroy the same party that helped him to power. How could anybody be like that?” Ganduje asked.
“Then it’s time for the election and you just bring this policy. For God, why is this coming at this time? What’s the importance of doing it now? Why not after the election? Why not some seven years back before now? Every politician will question this: what’s the importance of this policy? The CBN governor doesn’t understand these things. He is not a politician but just like that… He is a nobody,” he said.
Ganduje wondered how the president felt seeing banks being burnt by protesters in the southern part of the country due to the scarcity of the Naira notes.
“For God, just imagine these things. You’re a leader and you’re seeing a bank go up in flames. Could this be possible, if not because democracy has been bastardized? He doesn’t have an answer to this and this is not democracy,” he said.
Speaking further, Ganduje told the gathering that some governors went to court to protest the policy because it was not the right thing to do.
He also said it should have been revisited since international organisations like World Bank, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and some world leaders all called on the federal government to look at the possibility of revisiting the policy.
Ganduje said if the candidate of the ruling party is elected, he would discard the policy.
He also warned that banks in the state should collect old notes or risk having their certificate of operating in the state revoke.
The first hostages freed from Gaza under a long-awaited ceasefire agreement are back in Israel. The news sparked jubilant scenes in Tel Aviv where large crowds gathered ahead of their release.
The three freed Israeli hostages – the first of 33 to be released over the next six weeks – are Romi Gonen, Doron Steinbrecher and Emily Damari. They are said to be in good health and are receiving treatment at a medical center in Tel Aviv.
In exchange, 90 Palestinian prisoners and detainees are set to be released by Israel from Ofer Prison in the occupied West Bank.
The Israeli military withdrew from several locations in southern and northern Gaza after the truce began earlier on Sunday, an Israeli military official told CNN.
Displaced Gazans have started returning to their homes, while the aid trucks laden with much-needed supplies have crossed into Gaza. Here’s what we know about how the ceasefire deal will work.
Hamas, despite suffering devastating losses, is framing the Gaza ceasefire agreement as a victory for itself, and a failure for Israel.
One of Hamas’ main goals for taking some 250 people during its brazen October 7, 2023, attack on Israel was to secure the release of Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli jails. As Israel pounded Gaza in response, Hamas vowed not to return the hostages until Israel withdrew its forces from the enclave, permanently ended the war, and allowed for rebuilding.
Source: CNN
The leader of UK’s Conservative Party, Kemi Badenoch, has said she doesn’t want Britain to be like Nigeria that is plagued by “terrible governments.”
Speaking on Thursday at an event organised by Onward, a British think tank producing research on economic and social issues, Badenoch expressed fears that Britain may become like Nigeria if the system is not reformed.
“And why does this matter so much to me? It’s because I know what it is like to have something and then to lose it,” Badenoch told the audience.
“I don’t want Britain to lose what it has.
“I grew up in a poor country and watched my relatively wealthy family become poorer and poorer, despite working harder and harder as their money disappeared with inflation.
“I came back to the UK aged 16 with my father’s last £100 in the hope of a better life.
“So I have lived with the consequences of terrible governments that destroy lives, and I never, ever want it to happen here.”
Badenoch has been in the news of late after she dissociated herself from Nigeria, saying she has nothing to do with the Islamic northern region.
She also accused the Nigeria Police of robbing citizens instead of protecting them.
She said: “My experience with the Nigeria Police was very negative. Coming to the UK, my experience with the British Police was very positive.
“The police in Nigeria will rob us (laughter). When people say I have this bad experience with the police because I’m black, I say well…I remember the police stole my brother’s shoe and his watch.”
