The governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Godwin Emefiele, is a sadist and has committed a crime against humanity with his naira redesign policy which has “impoverished” many Nigerians, says Wole Soyinka.

For several months, Nigerians have had to grapple with a cash crunch due to the CBN’s limiting of cash in circulation. But the central bank is accusing politicians of hoarding cash. Deposit banks have complained of receiving limited cash from CBN.

Mr Soyinka, a playwright and rights activist, slammed Mr Emefiele and President Muhammadu for stifling “lives and livelihoods” through the cash policy that has made cash withdrawals at banks, ATMS and PoS difficult.

“You can’t buy newspapers. You can’t buy guguru. Which means the saleswoman cannot pay for plantain, which means that the farmer cannot pay for transportation of his goods from his farm to the market,” said Mr Soyinka regarding the cash scarcity caused by the CBN’s naira redesign policy. 

The rights activist stated this in a Channels TV interview aired on Monday.

He added, “Emefiele has committed a crime against humanity, over and beyond even any electoral mago-mago. He struck at the heart of the subsisting survival principles, minimal needs and entitlements of the ordinary people in the street.” 

The apex bank, in October 2022, announced the redesign of the N200, N300, and N500 banknotes. The CBN announced that the banknotes would cease to be legal tenders on February 15, 2023. The policy and deadline were approved by Mr Buhari, who claimed he was trying to stop vote buying and other corrupt practices ahead of the February 25 and March 18 elections. 

However, the Supreme Court nullified the arbitrary withdrawal of the old banknotes and ordered the Buhari regime to allow the currencies to remain in circulation until December, following a lawsuit challenging the naira policy. The suit was initially filed by Governors Nasir El-Rufai of Kaduna, Yahaya Bello of Kogi, and Bello Matawalle of Zamfara.

Mr Soyinka expressed concern that the scarcity of the naira has persisted with its attendant economic and social hardships.

“…Don’t bully me, don’t take my voice away. Don’t take my economic potential away. Don’t throw me on the mercy of a sadist like Emefiele, who impoverished…he and his boss, Buhari, because ultimately, responsibility (rests) with him to have allowed this to happen. But this is the expert,” Mr Soyinka stressed. “This is the one who gives advice and executes the policies.” 

He further stated, “And (Mr Emefiele) reduced this nation to a state where even a few days ago, I sent a cheque to the bank, and the cheque came back, they had no cash. One of the bankers eventually brought me something from his own cash and explained to me what had been going on; and how they would sit and wait for money to come.”

CBN spokesman Isa Abdulmumin did not immediately reply to The Gazette’s request for comments.