The Peoples Democratic Party has condemned the alleged attempt by the regime of the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), to deny the printing of N60bn by the Central Bank of Nigeria at its behest.
The PDP, in a statement by its National Publicity Secretary, Kola Ologbondiyan, said the admission by the 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 regime, was allegedly characterised by deceit and falsehood.
The PDP alleged that the Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Hajiya Zainab Ahmed, was allegedly misleading Nigerians by denying the revelations by the Edo State Governor, Godwin Obaseki.
Obaseki had insisted that the N60bn was printed in March to support federal allocation to states.
The PDP statement partly read, “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 our nation has 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 per cent as disclosed by the Bureau of National Statistics 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.
“The PDP calls out President Buhari to come clean on the amount that has 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.
“Furthermore, for failing the full disclosure test, the PDP demands that the Minister of Finance should immediately be relieved of her position, while the President accepts responsibility for the indiscriminate printing of currency in our naira.
“Our party implores President Buhari to save our nation by allowing better hands to manage and salvage our economy before it is too late.”