Bayo Onanuga, the Special Adviser Information and Strategy to President Bola Tinubu, has refuted a report claiming that the president had directed the governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Olayemi Cardoso to resign.
Onanuga, via his X handle, #aonanuga1956, tweeted on Tuesday evening, labelled the story, saying, “It’s all lies. President Tinubu has not asked Yemi Cardoso to resign.”
A media report (not The PUNCH), in a story published Tuesday, September 17, 2024, titled, “President Tinubu orders CBN gov, Cardoso to resign over naira steep fall,” stated that Tinubu gave the order before leaving Nigeria for China, as he (Tinubu) rebuffed the “pleas and pressure from the acclaimed Yoruba Elders who had risen to Cardoso’s support to save his job.”
A source who told the newspaper, said, “The president is worried about the exchange rate and angry that Cardoso in one year in office could not revive the Naira to between N700 and N900 before May 29th as he promised. The President waited for him to actualise the promise by May 29, June 29, and July 29 before he got tired of waiting in August when he invited him to submit his resignation.”
It claimed that Tinubu replied, saying, “I told you to bring your resignation letter, you do not need to beg because you promised in January that you would revive the Naira before May 29th and I have been asking you if I should bring N700 or N900 for you to give me $1, but you can’t find it.”
The value of the naira recorded its highest gain by 4.8 per cent against the United States dollar in nearly two months after the sale of the country’s debut domestic dollar bond, marking its biggest jump since July 22.
The currency closed at N1,558 per dollar on Wednesday, its strongest level against the greenback since August 21, Bloomberg reports.
