TheCable

The All Progressives Congress (APC) says the controversy over whether the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) prints money is “not an issue”.

Last week, Godwin Obaseki, Edo state governor had said Nigeria is in huge financial trouble, adding that the federal government printed N60 billion as part of federal allocation for March.

While Zainab Ahmed, finance minister, had described the claim as false, Godwin Emefiele, governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), had said the money was meant as loan from the apex bank.

Subsequently, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) asked President Muhammadu Buhari to sack the minister.

Reacting in a statement released on Sunday, the ruling party called on the PDP and others criticising the operations of the CBN to allow the apex bank to perform its mandate.

John Akpanudoedehe, national secretary of APC caretaker and extra-ordinary convention planning committee (CECPC), spoke on behalf of the party.

“Whether the CBN prints money or not, is not an issue, the apex bank should be allowed to perform its mandate,” he said.

“The CBN has several ways of creating new money,” he said, noting that money supply in the economy was at the appropriate level.”

Akpanudoedehe said the PDP needs to understand how money is created, adding that its utterances concerning CBN operations will create problems for the economy.

He said that central banks all over the world printed money during the financial crisis of 2008 and 2009.

“The Reserve Bank of the U.S printed dollars to bail out companies that were too big to fail, there is nothing wrong in printing money provided it is well managed,” Akpanudoedehe said.

“There is no evidence that the CBN is inefficient in managing the monetary aspect of the Nigerian economy.

“Let us not forget that the CBN is banker to government and has exercised such function efficiently and effectively.”

He added that the development function of the CBN had resulted in various intervention funds in several sectors of the economy.

He said the APC government implemented aggressive fiscal and monetary policies which resulted in the country’s economy exiting recession in 2016.

He said the COVID-19 pandemic and a decline in oil prices would have scuttled the recovery, if not for the intervention of the APC government through the economic sustainability plan.