Nigeria News:N5000 note: It is an indication of currency devaluation. – Tinubu

Former Lagos State governor Bola Tinubu has described the plan by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to introduce the N5,000 note as a sign of currency devaluation, even as he accused the Peoples Democratic-led government of being irresponsible.

Tinubu, who spoke to journalists in London at the weekend on his way to the US Democratic Convention, said the government was spending much more than it has, and has been mismanaging the economy.

“It is an indication of currency devaluation. It is not his (CBN governor) own problem. He is a banker for the entire nation. He keeps eye on the economy and comes up with policies. The problem that we have is that we are spending what we don’t have. We are not managing our resources very well.

“If you (government) are losing over $6bn in oil revenue to theft, if you are losing $6bn to $10bn to oil subsidy theft, and if you spend 75 per cent of your budget to service recurrent expenditure and you are borrowing, not for long term activities and development that will sustain the nation on the long term, you get devaluation and you are seeing the effect of devaluation,” said Tinubu. “The economy is on reverse, it’s a yoyo economy. This government is not serious, they don’t know what they are doing.”

On the Ondo election, Tinubu accused Ondo State governor,Dr Olusegun Mimiko of betrayal of trust, adding that the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) will win the election.

“We are going to defeat him. He is a betrayer, like he has betrayed others in the past. He got into Adefarati’s cabinet in 1999, betrayed him and moved to PDP. He later betrayed Olusegun Agagu and came back. He promised that within 30 days of his declaration, when we were fighting the case in the court, he would come to ACN and, after being sworn in, he started dillydallying. That is his trait. He’s not principled; a person with character would not do that definitely,” said Tinubu.

On the new Lagos traffic law, he said the law is not anti-people but against those who want to violate the traffic.

“The opposition parties which are criticising the law are bereft of ideas. Governance is about idea. The law is for safety and the government has the responsibility of safety of lives primarily, then properties. So you are saving lives and property. Vehicle is an asset. People should learn to obey simple law, it is for their own good. It is not for government. If you are not in violation, no one will arrest you. If you are in violation, the court will listen to you. In that if you don’t have money to defend yourself, Office of the Public Defenders is there, established by the government for those who don’t have money. We should clap for the government. We have to be civilised. Look how clean this place is (referring to London),” said the former governor.