Naira Scarcity: What Ezekwesili Said About Who’s Controlling CBN

Former Minister of Education, Oby Ezekwesili has claimed that the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) is being run by President Muhammadu Buhari from Aso Rock Villa.

Ezekwesili stated this while condemning the naira redesign policy which has brought untold economic hardship to Nigerians

Speaking during an interview on Channels TV’s 2023 Verdict, Ezekwesili recounted how she warned Nigerian’s that the president had taken over CBN.

She argued that the apex bank had already being told that the CBN does not belong to the president and they should not take the monetary authority and put it in the villa.

The former minister stated that she was insulted when she disclosed years ago that Aso Rock had infiltrated the CBN.

According to her, “I said it publicly many years ago. I said the monetary policy is being compromised because it was evident that it was being run from the Villa. I said it in this country. What I find very intriguing is how people just don’t follow the things that are spoken.

“As I’ve said about what we’re seeing today, I got insulted for them, but I couldn’t care about who insulted me, I stand on the path of truth. And here right? Watching every one of those who insulted me for calling attention to the things that were wrong with our politics and the management of our economic policy coming to where I was, let me say years ago.

“So I have no word for the president, because frankly, I’m not one of those Nigerians with any expectation from this president.”

Speaking further, Ezekwesili said the only thing she wants from Buhari is for him to make sure that the election happened and that the nation got a new government floated by Nigerian citizens.

She added that right now, Nigeria is right on the highest end of indicators of fragility.

“Nigeria is in a state of higher end fragility, we have always done number 12, number 13. I think last time, we were number 13 on the fragile state index, which means that we are close enough to a failed state. So that level of fragility, you want to push it further. People think that the personal interests of this political rascals should take the country into a state of implosion,” she said.

The former minister maintained that the monetary policy had become so completely immersed in the politics of the country, which is such a disgrace.

“Frankly speaking, I don’t even know whether there are economists left in the Central Bank of Nigeria. Because when I look at the serial failure to think through policies, even what we call policy timelines, or to think through the policies on the basis of the evidence that’s on the table, so that data is helping to drive your decision, modern inputs or anecdote, or the whims and caprices of those that you report to, the central bank is compromised and it has to be number one thing on the agenda,” she stated.