The 2023 presidential candidate of the Labour Party, Peter Obi, has described the recent raid on some bureaux de change in Abuja, where some operators were arrested, as a misplaced priority.
Obi said the government is bereft of economic ideas, hence, the reason the naira continues to fall against the dollar and other currencies.
Sunrise recalls that operatives of the Economic and Financial Crime Commission, EFCC, raided the offices of some bureaux de change operators in Wuse Zone 4, Abuja, and arrested some operators after the naira crashed to about N1900 per dollar at the parallel market.
Reacting to the development on Sunday during an event put together by his supporters to mark the first anniversary of the February 25, 2023, presidential election, Obi knocked the security agencies for going after Yahoo Boys, whereas the bigger thieves are in government.
He said: “I heard the other day that the EFCC raided offices of bureau de change operators and arrested some of them because of the continuous fall of the naira against the dollar. This is a completely misplaced priority. Those who are in charge of Nigeria don’t understand our problem and we must dismantle them.
“Wherever I have gone all over Nigeria, North, and South, I have been struck by the reality of poverty, deprivation, and suffering, sometimes written boldly on the faces of people.
“Yet the beauty of our people remains the optimism in their Nigerian identity and the hope they all cherish in the future of our country.
“None of the poor people that I have encountered have ever wished they were not Nigerians. On the contrary, the consensus among them is that Nigeria is a good place ruled mostly by bad leaders.”