The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) presidential candidate for the 2023 general elections, Atiku Abubakar has explained why he believes that one of the three naira notes about to be redesigned should have the image of former President Olusegun Obasanjo.
In a string of tweets on Saturday which were sighted by Africa Today News, New York, Atiku hailed the 85-year-old elder statesman and African Union’s mediator over his steering roles in leading peace talks between the Ethiopian Government and Tigrayan rebels following two years of devastating conflict that have claimed thousands of lives and left millions needing aid in Africa’s second-most populous country.
Recall that Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed’s government and Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) had in a statement this week agreed to ‘permanently silence the guns’ and end the two years of conflict in northern Ethiopia.
The conflict erupted on November 4, 2020, when Nobel peace laureate Abiy sent troops into Tigray after accusing the TPLF, the regional ruling party, of attacking federal army camps.
Atiku, on Saturday, celebrated what he described as the ‘extraordinary prowess’ of Obasanjo in bringing peace to Ethiopia.
‘I am not surprised. I know my boss. He did the same thing in Liberia and São Tomé and Príncipe during our time in office,” the PDP candidate said. Atiku was Nigeria’s Vice-President between May 1999 and May 2007 when Obasanjo was a democratically elected President. Obasanjo and Atiku’s second term in office was not smooth but the two would later resolve their differences.
‘If for nothing else, he is most deserving of a Nobel Peace Prize, and I will nominate him when entries are open for nominations.
‘Africa is blessed to have a statesman of such impeccable democratic credentials as Chief Obasanjo. A man whose image ought to be in the redesigned Naira note to inspire future generations of Nigerians to sacrifice for their nation and continent,’ he added.
Africa Today News, New York recalls that on October 26, the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Godwin Emefiele said the apex bank will issue redesigned N200, N500, and N1,000 notes, effective December 15, 2022, while the new and existing currencies will remain legal tender and circulate together until January 31, 2023.