The All Progressives Congress (APC) Presidential Campaign Council has described the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Atiku Abubakar, as a “chameleonic politician” over his latest stance on the redesign policy of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).
The APC campaign council said Atiku has demonstrated he is an unstable politician for changing his position on the naira redesign policy.
The PDP presidential flag-bearer had recently urged the CBN to allow Nigerians to deposit their old N500 and N1000 notes in commercial banks across the country.
Atiku, a former Vice President, had early said the deadline for the validity of the old naira notes should not be extended by the apex bank.
However, the Director, Media and Publicity, APC Presidential Campaign Council, Bayo Onanuga, in a statement issued on Monday, said Atiku and the PDP first hailed the naira redesign policy when they initially thought it was a policy deliberately designed to stop the presidential ambition of the ruling party, Bola Tinubu.
The council stated: “We have observed the treacherous and shifting positions of Peoples Democratic Party’s Presidential candidate, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar since the current currency crisis caused by the Central Bank started.
“In line with his well-documented inconsistencies and unreliability, Atiku has advanced several contradictory positions, in the fruitless hope of gaining political advantage from the crisis.
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“We note that Alhaji Atiku and his hopeless party first hailed the CBN policy to high heavens when they initially thought it was a policy deliberately designed to stop Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu from becoming the next elected president of Nigeria.
“Atiku called on President Muhammadu Buhari and CBN Governor to ensure strict implementation of the policy and the deadline of 31 January because in his and party’s short-sightedness and gross miscalculation, Tinubu was the prime target.
“On 1 February, Atiku took another public position, asking the CBN not to shift the deadline again
“Amid the widespread misery and the currency scarcity that the Naira swap policy created for Nigerians, Atiku’s position proved once again an egregious miscalculation and clearly anti-people
“But with just five days away from the presidential election, Atiku wants to cash in on the mood of the country with his latest faux empathy. He is now asking CBN to allow Nigerians to deposit their N500 and N1000 old notes in commercial banks, after thousands of desperate Nigerians jammed the CBN offices in Lagos and other places, hoping to deposit their old currency and get the new notes.
“It is generally a bad time for poor and hapless Nigerians as currency scarcity has become the norm. The chameleonic politician forgot that he once described the suffering our people are going through some ‘little inconvenience’.
“We recognise Atiku’s desperation to be President and like chameleon, this unprincipled and unstable politician will change positions on any issue as long as he thinks it will help his perennial ambition.
“Nigerians should run away from Atiku. A man like the PDP candidate with no strong conviction and strength of character cannot offer the kind of leadership our country needs.
“Nigeria needs a consistent and steady leader who will stand firm and upright when it is convenient and when it is not convenient. Asiwaju Tinubu is that kind of leader and he has demonstrated that by his principled stand on the current crisis. He has also offered a six-point solution to get the country out of the current morass,” the APC Presidential Campaign Council said.
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