NASS REPUBLIC: As Doguwa ‘yells’ at Buhari over Naira redesign. Two other stories and a quote to remember

The Majority Leader of the House of Representatives, Ado Doguwa, last week, told President Muhammadu Buhari that the Naira redesign policy was working against the All Progressives Congress (APC) ahead of the general elections.

Two other stories from the National Assembly were also reviewed for your reading pleasure.

1. As Doguwa ‘yells’ at Buhari

On February 16, Hon. Doguwa confessed that the ongoing Naira scarcity has made Nigerians to perceive the APC as the source of their suffering, and that this stands to work against the chances of the party’s candidates in the coming elections.

“I told Mr. President that the policy is against the ruling party, my party because it’s a government policy, a government of the APC. And Nigerians at this time of elections are now looking at my government coming up with an unpopular policy,” he said while speaking to Journalists in Abuja.

Doguwa’s confession mirrors the uneasiness in the camp of the APC, and explains better why most governors in the party are fighting against the policy.

It authenticates the fact that politics is interest-driven. Hence, it is not unsurprising to see the Majority Leader weeping over a policy that would limit the chances of his party at the elections.

NASS MEMORY LANE

Who said;
“The time has come (when) we’ve to take our destiny into our hands. If the police and the security agencies can’t provide security for us, do we fold our hands and get ourselves killed without asking questions and without reacting?”

Answer: See end of post

Two other stories

2. Gbajabiamila also weeps over Naira

The Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila, on February 14, reaffirmed that the ongoing Naira and fuel scarcity were carefully contrived to make the presidential candidate of the APC, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, lose Saturday’s election.

“Nobody can convince me that it is not a plot to stop Asiwaju from becoming President of this country,” Gbajabiamila said in Lagos.

Read also:NASS REPUBLIC: Nnamani’s unending saga. Two other stories, and a quote to remember

The Speaker’s statement tells of the growing fears in the APC that the Naira crunch, and fuel scarcity may make the electorates vote against the party in the Saturday election.

It also reinforces the allegations by the Kaduna State governor, Nasir El-Rufai, that some persons advising Buhari on the Naira redesign policy at the Aso Rock Villa do not want Tinubu to win the election.

In all, most critics stay worried over why the Tinubu camp is crying the most over a policy that many believe would rein in vote buying at the polls.

The outcome of the elections sure would speak to all these concerns.

3. …And, Dogara commends Buhari

On February 17, the immediate past Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon. Yakubu Dogara, praised President Buhari’s efforts at curbing vote-buying, ahead of the general elections, through the Naira redesign policy.

Dogara spoke at a Town Hall meeting organised by the Atiku/Okowa campaign in Yola, Adamawa State.

He said: “I want to specifically commend President Buhari over the initiative to curb vote buying in the forthcoming general elections. I am not uninformed nor unaffected by the hardship caused by the Naira redesign and swap policy but I want to plead with Nigerians to endure it for these few weeks as a sacrifice for a free, fair and credible election.”

Dogara’s commendation aligns with one of the primary reasons for the policy – curbing vote-buying at the elections. His disposition, amid the fight by some APC governors against it, shows that politics is an interest-driven game.

While it may be true that ordinary Nigerians are the ones bearing the larger pains accompanying the policy, the festering crisis brings home the general feeling that this is essentially an intra-class war.

Answer: Senator Abba Moro

Moro, who made the statement in December 2022, in Otukpo, Benue State, after receiving a Lifetime Achievement Award at the 10th edition of the Idoma International Carnival. He represents Benue South District at the National Assembly.

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