Amid the ongoing brouhaha between some senior chieftains in the ruling Progressives Congress (APC) and the Muhammadu Buhari administration over the contentious naira redesign/cash swap policy introduced by the Central Bank of Nigeria, renowned human rights activist and lawyer, Professor Chidi Odinkalu has come out to lampoon those challenging the efficacy of the policy at the Supreme Court.
Speaking during an interview on NEWS CENTRAL TV's 'Politics HQ' a few hours ago, Odinkalu argued that the real motive behind the governors challenging the policy is not for the betterment of the lives of Nigerians but simply because of intentions to buy votes with stashed old naira notes running into billions.
Going further, the Prof pointed out that it is a shame that after running the affairs of their states for the past 8 years, the only way some governors have planned to make their people vote for them is not by appealing to the good work they have done but rather by using stashed cash to buy votes. According to him, a governor would not need to buy votes on Election Day if indeed he took proper care of the people of his state for 8 years.
To buttress his point, Odinkalu revealed that back in 2011, Babatunde Raji Fashola didn't spend a single penny buying votes to secure a second term in office as Lagos Governor because the entire state knew he did extremely well in his first tenure.
"If you lived in Lagos in 2011 when Raji Fashola ran for a second term, he didn't need money to persuade anybody irrespective of who you supported, where you came from, or what party you belonged to. Most Lagosians believed that Raji Fashola had done more than enough to earn a second term based on his performance. Whether you were Igbo, Ijaw, Yoruba, Efik, or Ibibio, his performance spoke for him.
Now, how can you run a state for 8 years and all you want to do is to go and buy voters? shame on these governors. I am not sorry for saying this. How can a person run a state for eight years and all they can think of during an election is how they will buy votes? And Nigerians are even debating this issue? And they are now fighting the CBN Policy that is scuttling their plans. It's just disgraceful."
You can watch Professor Chidi Odinkalu's interview on News Central TV below:
SOURCE: YouTube.
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