Ezekwesili faults CBN's naira redesign policy, says move is compromised

Former Vice President of the World Bank, Oby Ezekwesili has waded into the conversation about the new naira policy instituted by the Central Bank of Nigeria.

Ezekwesili while faulting the apex bank accused the political elites of hijacking the processes and workings of the monetary authorities and using them for political benefits.

She made her position known in an interview with Channels TV on Sunday, February 19.

She said: "The reason Africa's democracy was in a parlor state and hijacked by the supply side by the politicians is that you have an electorate that acts as if they are not interested," she said, explaining the political class's grip on a system allowed by the masses.

"The minds of the electorate are like, someday a messiah would just come, and things would be fine. "They have failed to exert the kind of pressure necessary to determine the quality of a democratic outcome. So we have an electorate with no power to influence political outcomes to their benefit.

"Now people connect their lives to the supply side's failures, which is very important."

The erstwhile education minister in Nigeria disclosed the political parties' influence on the electorate, stating that despite positive changes in the Independent Electoral Commission, money is still a potent tool to detect the outcomes on election days.

"I said many years ago that the monetary policy was compromised because it was evident that it was being run from the villa," she said when asked about what she would have done differently if she were to be in the president's shoes.

"I find it very intriguing that people don't follow the things that have been said… "Frankly, I have no words for President Buhari because I am not one of those Nigerians with any expectations from him.

All I want to see him do is make sure that the elections happen and a new government gets elected by Nigerian citizens who want a society that functions," she added.

"The country is in a state of higher-end fragility," she said to describe the country's situation, explaining that the government is close to failing.

"With this level of fragility, you want to push it further?" she asked.

Ezekwesili faulted the CBN's policy and monetary policy solutions and condemned the relationship between the apex bank and the presidency. She said the relationship needs more data to drive its policies.

NBA