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Edo govt. seeks Oshiomhole’s arrest over naira scarcity protest

The Godwin Obaseki-led Edo State government has sought the arrest of the former national chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC) Adams Oshiomhole for allegedly stoking the violent protests that broke out in the state on Wednesday over the controversial naira redesign policy.

TheCornet reports the protests in different parts of the state and attacks on banks and Automated Teller Machine points.

In a statement by Chris Nehikhare, Edo commissioner for communication and orientation, the government is accusing Oshiomhole of “instigating” the disturbances.

He said, “In a viral video on social media, he (Oshiomhole) was heard deliberately instigating APC members to go on a rampage and intimidate people in Benin City, destroying government property, and bringing anarchy to the country because the government of his party is about to lose the forthcoming general election.”

He added, “I call on security agencies to call Oshiomhole for questioning. He should be interrogated, arrested, and made to account for his movement in Benin City a few days vaago.

“The political party responsible for this policy is the same party that has sent their APC thugs to destroy the billboards of PDP candidates. PDP is not the government at t)he center.

“So, it’s clear that this is politically motivated. We are pointing fingers directly at Oshiomhole as he has given a command to his tigers to unleash mayhem and anarchy. He continues to go against the laws of the land because he wants to be part of the next government.

“The situation is bad. Edo people should be patient as CBN has assured the Edo state government that there is enough money to go around. CBN believes that they have made the necessary arrangements for naira exchange in the State.

“This is a systematic protest organised across the country by the APC. They targeted Edo, Delta, and Oyo states and these states are PDP states. It doesn’t make sense for PDP states to be attacking PDP infrastructure when the policy causing the problems is an APC policy.”

The Edo State government continues to show support for the controversial policy that has resulted in a cash squeeze in the economy.

The State government has equally applied to be joined as a respondent in the Supreme Court suit.

The governors of Kaduna, Kogi, and Zamfara states are the plaintiffs to the suit, wherein they asked the Apex Court to stop the execution of the policy.

At a resumed hearing in the matter on Wednesday, the Supreme Court reaffirmed its subsisting directive to suspend the enforcement of the February 10 deadline set by the Central Bank of Nigeria for swapping of old banknotes for new ones.

The Court also stated that the old naira notes remain legal tenders until the hearing of the substantive suit filed by the applicant states.

But, President Muhammadu Buhari, on Thursday in a national broadcast, overruled the Court. While maintaining that the old N500, and N1, 000 notes had ceased to be valid tenders, he ordered the CBN to release the N200 notes back into economy.

 

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