Kwankwaso Accuses Presidential Candidates, Party Members Of Owning Banks

Rabiu Kwankwaso, Presidential candidate of the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP) has criticised the new naira swap deadline. He claimed that the swap deadline doesn’t affect political elites because they have banks.  Kwankwaso also noted that the deadline largely affects only the masses.

Speaking on Channels Television’s breakfast show Sunrise Daily Today, Kwankwaso said, “They don’t know that many of our colleagues, those who are contesting, especially presidential candidates, and by extension, all those in their parties, are owners of the banks.” 

Kwankwaso added that these politicians have nothing to lose as they have governors. He also said, “they have governors -PDP has governors, APC has governors – and I am sure by now they would have collected so much money from the banks in their states.” The former governor of Kano state further maintained that the apex bank naira swap would not be effective in curbing vote-buying as most politicians have access to the banking system.

Kwankwaso speaks on the Naira swap deadline

The Presidential candidate argued that the February 10th deadline given by the apex bank is not sufficient. He explained that in the northern parts of the country, there are a limited number of banks as some local governments have no single bank. The former Kano governor also noted that in some areas the local government headquarters is very far from them.

He further explained that “we are not talking about big businessmen. We are talking about petty traders with a capital of N5,000 and even less. Now, if you give them three months, it would be very difficult for the information to reach them.”

The former minister further called for an extension of the deadline. He asserted that the six months period is not enough for the currency swap, and further demanded that the government allow the new currency to circulate to make the policy effective.

Tangent

As Nigerians scramble for the new naira notes, the Independent Corrupt Practices and other Related Offenses Commission (ICPC) has arrested a Nigerian businesswoman for allegedly selling the recently introduced naira notes online.

Her arrest was contained in a statement issued by ICPC spokesperson Azuka Ogugwa. The suspect, Oluwadarasimi Emma is a businesswoman who trades skin care products and travel-related services. The statement revealed that the suspect was selling the new naira notes to the general public via Twitter.

ICPC said, “It is believed she is in collusion with key elements in the financial services sector diverting the newly released notes away from banking halls, and payment channels into a black market”. The commission also hinted that Emma has been detained and is helping with its findings on the criminal trading of the naira.

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