The All Progressives Congress (APC), which is in power, appears to be falling apart as a result of the implementation of the Naira redesign policy and the resulting shortage of the new notes.
Ibadan, the capital of Oyo State, experienced a protest on Friday, during which people attacked banks and other establishments. Benin City, Edo State, Enugu, as well as other states, experienced a protest earlier in the week.
However, the majority of the opposition has been coming from within the ruling party, with Bola Tinubu, the party's presidential candidate, opening fire at a rally in Ogun State.
At the Abeokuta rally, Tinubu claimed that the redesign of the Naira is a direct attack on his bid for the presidency. At the party rally in Ekiti State, he held the same stance as well.
Nasir El-rufai, the governor of Kaduna State, has been interviewed by Channels TV, TVC, Arise TV, and the BBC in the past 72 hours. The message has remained the same with each appearance: Mr. Tinubu is being targeted by some Villa members.
Some of the comments by the Kaduna State governor fueled speculation that the “Villa Cabals” are backing Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, who ran against Tinubu but lost.
However, in subsequent interviews, El-Rufai clarified that the VP is not one of the people sabotaging the party.
“This is not the policy of our candidate (Bola Tinubu); this is the policy of fifth columnists." "They want to bring us down; they want to bring this country down,” El-rufai had said during the interview on Channels TV.
Other Mr. Tinubu associates, besides El-rufai, also appeared in some media outlets. While Ajuri Ngalale was speaking candidly in an interview, Babatunde Fashola, the minister of works and housing, discussed the campaign live on Instagram.
Ngalale charged that Godwin Emefiele, the governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, gave President Buhari bad policy recommendations.
“The outcome of the policy wasn’t what Emefiele initially presented to the President,” he said during an interview.
Recall that the vice president has also expressed his disapproval of how the policy has been applied.
Osinbajo claimed that Nigerians are feeling the effects of the shortage of the new notes during a meeting with some participants in the fintech industry.
While applying pressure, some governors of the APC equally met with the president behind closed doors on Friday; however, the president insisted on seeing through the February 10 deadline. Shortly after the meeting, Emefiele also announced that there would be no further extension.
Atiku Abubakar, the candidate for the Peoples Democratic Party, requested that the CBN not extend the deadline past the set date, and President Buhari and Emefiele appear to be in agreement with that request.
Given that the PDP and the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP) are attempting to gain ground in the Northwest, many members of the ruling party are worried that the impact of the policy may negatively affect their chances of winning the election.
“Asiwaju is coming to terms with the impact of this policy on the election; therefore, he is pushing the Southwest base." The crowd in Osun was a statement, then Ekiti again. "He is sending a message,” Ibrahim Gbadamosi, the coordinator of Asiwaju Grassroots Support, told The Daily Post.
“There is an uptick here; the fact that the Asiwaju spoke up—he opened up the conversation around it." And look at it: the governors, particularly the Northern governors, are solidly behind him. So there is no reason to be worried.
“We have six states in Southwest, we are optimistic of about five States in Northcentral, three States in Northeast and still strong in Northwest. In fact, we are pushing in States in Southsouth and Southeast.” He said.
Despite the optimism in the camp of the ruling party, many believe that the hardship associated with the swap of naira may further weaken the chances of the ruling party.
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