Very little has been reported about what former President Olusegun Obasanjo said at the Council of State meeting convened by President Muhammadu Buhari over the controversial Naira swap policy being implemented by the Central Bank of Nigeria.
Former President Obasanjo has been one of the most stringent critics of the Buhari Administration over the years.
So it was expected that he would speak on the policy at the meeting on February 10, 2023 meant for past leaders and some top officials of the government on power.
Revealing what Obasanjo said at the meeting in his weekly column was the Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Femi Adesina.
The column, published in full elsewhere on this news website, comes out every Friday.
Adesina wrote:
Former President Olusegun Obasanjo, who has been hypercritical of President Buhari for years, said change was necessary from time to time, and was also bound to be opposed.
He gave examples with the change of driving from the right to the left lane in the early 1970s, which was robustly opposed. The National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) scheme, he said was also resisted. He then submitted:
“We enjoy all these things today. I’ve experienced currency change at least more than half a dozen times. When we increased feeding in universities from 50 kobo to N1, it led to ‘Ali Must Go’ riots. Resistance to change is normal, and people will always support, oppose, or be neutral. The naira change policy is good, but implementation is the issue. If there’s inadequate supply, let’s have more. If there are unscrupulous people sabotaging the policy, let’s deal with them.”
The former military head of state and civilian President said the naira policy “will bring little bit of sanity into our elections, have salutary effect on kidnapping and ransom taking, and corruption will be substantially reduced, as money passed through the banking system can be traced.”
On the briefing by INEC (Independent National Electoral Commission) Chairman (Prof. Mahmoud Yakubu), Chief Obasanjo said: “Mr President, I commend your effort on preparedness. I wish the country free, fair, credible polls. It will be an example to other countries in West Africa, and in Africa.”