PDP asks Buhari to sack finance minister over alleged printing of N60bn

THE People’s Democratic Party has berated finance minister, Zainab Ahmad, for attempting to mislead Nigerians over the fiscal condition of the nation.

The party asked President Buhari to sack the minister over the alleged printing of N60 billion by the Central Bank of Nigeria.

In a statement by its national Publicity Secretary, Kola Ologbondiyan, the main opposition party said “the admission by CBN Governor, Godwin Emefiele, that the apex bank has been printing money at the bidding of government, has vindicated its earlier stand that the Buhari-led APC administration is characterised by concealments, deceit, and falsehood”.

The Edo State Governor Godwin Obaseki had disclosed that FG printed N60bn to support the March allocation to states, but the finance minister denied the claim, saying that it is untrue.

Ahmed said the distribution revenue is public information and that there was no way the government would have printed money without public knowledge.

Obaseki, however, stuck to his guns by advising those at the helm to end monetary rascality and stop playing ostrich.

He noted that this is necessary “to prevent the prevailing economic challenge from degenerating further.”

Yesterday, however, the CBN governor, Godwin Emefiele, gave a hint that the money could have been printed to support the economy, though he warned that politicians should not misinterpret the policy, which was necessitated by the need to save to save the nation’s economy.

Part of the PDP statement issued today, read, “Governor 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% 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.”