The spokesperson for President Bola Ahmed Tinubu on Media and Publicity, Ajuri Ngelale, said recently in an interview that former president Muhammad Buhari was unaware of the foreign reserve depletion by the former Central Bank Governor, Godwin Emefiele, the CBN Governor under President Buhari regime
Ngelale added that the former president didnt authorized the bulk of the expenditure from the foreign reserves amounting to billions of dollars which is part of the cause of the foreign exchange and inflation problem Nigeria is currently facing.
He added that majority of the apex bank’s operations are directly managed by the CBN governor, who also holds the position of chairman on the bank’s board of directors.
“What was done concerning the expenditure of billions of dollars from the foreign reserves was done largely without the approval or knowledge of President Muhammad Buhari and President Bola Tinubu.
“Yes, that might seem hard for some people to believe, but I want to explain how that could have happened.
“We have one of the few Central Banks in the world where the day-to-day CEO was the governor of the Central Bank and was also the chairman of the board of directors. He was essentially overseeing himself,” Ajuri explained.
Reacting to the cash crunch under Emefiele due to the Naira redesign policy, Ngelale said the policy was an attack on the Nigerian people rather than a political attack on President Bola Tinubu. Many people who were not involved in any form of corruption were adversely affected by the policy, emphasizing that they were unable to access their hard-earned money. Emefiele was solely responsible for the policy.
“I do understand that, yes, there was the Naira scarcity. The CBN had its role in that. I don’t think that was an attack on President Bola Tinubu as an individual as much as that was an attack on the Nigerian people.
“We had millions of people who were on minimum wage and above, who were not issuing corrupt contracts. They were not involved in any type of malfeasance. They go to work every morning and come back late. Then they get to the bank and can’t access their own hard-earned money.
“When you have people for example in the North dying in hospital because they cannot access money that they earn legitimately because of the move of some people in the CBN, I think that is the type of activity that will attract a curse that will be difficult for any man to escape,” he stated.