Atiku Abubakar, the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) for the 2023 election, has been criticised by opposition elements for his alleged contradictory comments on the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN’s) Naira redesign policy .

Atiku on Sunday backtracked and said the CBN’s naira redesign policy is hurting ordinary citizens. Over two weeks ago, the former vice-president backed the currency redesign policy, advising the apex bank not to extend the February 10 deadline for the demonetization of the old naira notes. The PDP candidate also said any further extension would destroy the purpose and objective of the policy.

Reacting to Atiku’s change in stance, Festus Keyamo, the spokesperson of the All Progressives Congress (APC) Presidential Campaign Council (PCC), slammed the PDP candidate for being ‘double-faced’, and ‘playing with the lives of Nigerians’.

“Check out the changing positions of a two-faced candidate always playing politics with the lives of Nigerians, just like he played politics with the gruesome murder of Deborah Samuel in Sokoto last year,” Keyamo wrote on his verified Twitter handle on Monday morning with accompanying screengrabs of Atiku’s statements. In a similar vein, Omoyele Sowore, the African Action Congress (AAC) presidential candidate, insinuated that Atiku is not a real leader. Sowore wrote on Twitter on Monday: “Opportunitistic @atiku thought he could capitalise on the poverty-inducing Naira Design to win election.

Ada Peter