Economic Hardship: Ngelale Speaks on Buhari’s Negligence of CBN’s Administration

The Presidency has said the signature of former President Muhammadu Buhari was absent from many clearances for the flow of cash within the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) under Godwin Emefiele.

This was stated by the Special Adviser to President Bola Tinubu on Media and Publicity, Ajuri Ngelale, during his appearance on Channels Television on Monday night, 

According to him, he noted that the last administration had to take some responsibility for some of the things that happened in the apex bank under Emefiele.

“President Bola Tinubu has come out several times in fairness to him (Buhari), to say, ‘Look, this is what happened under the previous administration’. I think we have to acknowledge the fact that he (Tinubu) understands more than anyone that many of the approvals within the CBN that brought us to this point has no signature to President Muhammadu Buhari and had no knowledge of President Muhammadu Buhari,” Ngelale said.

According to Ngelale, Buhari’s disregard for the CBN’s mismanagement contributed to the current state of the economy, even though he made strides in other areas like infrastructure and business accessibility.

He said President Tinubu has not held back from telling Nigerians about events that occurred under his predecessor that were detrimental to the country’s economy, despite the fact that he backed Buhari’s administration.

“We are not hiding behind the figure on this issue, I think I have been very clear that the prior administration does have to take responsibility for the fact that Governor Emefiele was left in office even though he was inherited and he was given a second term to continue doing what he ended up doing.

“That responsibility and that decision were made by President Muhammadu Buhari irrespective of the fact that President Buhari knew what was going on in the Central Bank of Nigeria. So, there is a responsibility to be taken there, I have to be very categorical about that.

“Now, that does not however mean that you throw the baby out with the bath water. We don’t say because these thing happened in the Central Bank of Nigeria President Buhari  was devoid of achievement or devoid of progressive administration.

“Having infrastructure matters, working on ease of doing business, making sure that people can register a company in 48 hours as against six months before they came into office, these things actually have impacts with the responsibility attracting investments into the country.”

Ngelale mentioned the $6.2 million purportedly provided in cash by the CBN to accommodate international observers during the election as one of the approvals bearing Buhari’s signature that was later found to be fraudulent.

Emefiele had first served as CBN governor under President Goodluck Jonathan, he was however retained by Buhari.