Edo North Senator, Adams Oshiomhole, has openly blamed former President Muhammadu Buhari for the collapse of the naira, accusing his administration of “excessive printing of money” through the Central Bank of Nigeria’s controversial Ways and Means policy. The former Edo State governor declared that the Nigerian currency did not just crash on its own but was “recklessly dragged down” by fiscal irresponsibility under Buhari’s watch. And this time, Oshiomhole didn’t mince words.
Oshiomhole Blames Buhari for Naira Collapse in Harsh Words
At a Progressives Governors Forum meeting held in Benin City, Oshiomhole likened Buhari’s economic approach to that of Zimbabwe’s Mugabe and Uganda’s Idi Amin, saying Nigeria came dangerously close to joining the league of nations where money had no value. “We are coming from a country that was almost like Zimbabwe or Idi Amin’s Uganda,” he said. “He [Idi Amin] asked the Central Bank governor, ‘go and print more money for us to share,’ and the governor said, ‘if we print more money, our currency will become like a sheet of paper’.”
In that same breath, Oshiomhole accused the Buhari administration of similar actions, saying the Central Bank printed over ₦31 trillion in the name of Ways and Means, an emergency funding provision that allows the government to borrow from the CBN to cushion delayed revenue. But instead of emergency needs, Oshiomhole claimed it was used as a blank cheque to “just print banknotes and go and share to people to meet their money illusion.” That, he said, is what led to the naira’s humiliating collapse against the dollar.
Oshiomhole Blames Buhari for Naira Collapse, Calls for Accountability
Oshiomhole didn’t stop there. He said the current administration is now paying for Buhari’s sins, noting that Tinubu’s government has inherited “a burden so heavy it could sink the country” if not handled. “Nigeria was borrowing every day the way fish drinks water,” he said. “Now, it’s Tinubu’s headache to pay back loans so that we can still call Nigeria a sovereign country.”
He explained that the root of the cost-of-living crisis and the disturbing exchange rate lies in the “reckless and unregulated” cash injection engineered by the Buhari-era CBN. “The result of that excessive printing of banknotes is what led to the collapse of the naira,” Oshiomhole stressed, insisting that no amount of excuses or technical jargons can erase that fact. “They called it Ways and Means. But let me tell you what it really means: collapse, confusion and national embarrassment.”
Oshiomhole Blames Buhari for Naira Collapse and Urges Reforms
Oshiomhole’s comments follow recent Senate actions to probe the Ways and Means spending and the Anchor Borrowers Programme initiated under the Buhari-era Central Bank. While some political players have been quiet on the controversial policy, Oshiomhole went all in, insisting that Nigerians have a right to know how ₦31 trillion was printed and spent without corresponding growth or results.
His remarks have stirred debate among lawmakers and economists, many of whom now question why Buhari’s financial management was not called out earlier. While Tinubu’s government has vowed to tighten fiscal control, Oshiomhole made it clear that unless the country faces the truth, no policy will rescue the naira from its current condition.
