Oshiomhole Blames Naira Collapse on Buhari-Era Money Printing
Senator Oshiomhole says Buhari’s excessive money printing under CBN’s Ways and Means policy crippled the naira, creating Tinubu’s debt repayment burden.
Senator Oshiomhole says Buhari’s excessive money printing under CBN’s Ways and Means policy crippled the naira, creating Tinubu’s debt repayment burden
Buhari money printing policy was directly responsible for the collapse of the naira, according to Senator Adams Oshiomhole, who criticised the Central Bank’s use of the controversial Ways and Means provision during the former president’s tenure.
Speaking at the Progressive Governors Forum’s meeting and interactive session held in Benin City on Saturday, Oshiomhole said the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), under former President Muhammadu Buhari, printed money excessively under the guise of emergency funding. This, he said, weakened the local currency and fuelled the current economic crisis.
“We are coming from a country that was almost like Zimbabwe or Idi Amin’s Uganda, where he asked the Central Bank Governor to ‘go and print more money for us to share to the people’. And the Governor said, if we print more money, Uganda currency will be like a sheet of paper,” Oshiomhole remarked.
The senator, who represents Edo North and is a former governor of the state, traced the current cost-of-living crisis and the volatile exchange rate back to what he described as reckless monetary practices under Buhari’s leadership.
He said that the Ways and Means facility, which permits the Federal Government to borrow from the CBN to meet urgent funding needs, was abused and turned into an unsustainable financial lifeline.
This, he argued, forced the naira into free fall and left the Tinubu administration grappling with the consequences.
“To understand the root cause of the current exchange rate and inflation crisis, we must trace it to the excessive amount of banknotes printed through the so-called Ways and Means,” Oshiomhole said.
He added that Nigeria had been borrowing daily under Buhari “the way fish drinks water,” resulting in a massive debt burden that now rests on President Bola Tinubu’s shoulders. The senator stressed that servicing this debt is vital for preserving Nigeria’s financial sovereignty.
In 2024, the Senate set up an ad hoc committee to investigate both the Ways and Means facility and the CBN’s Anchor Borrowers Programme, amid growing concerns about the lack of transparency and the economic risks involved.
Under the existing law, the Central Bank may lend to the Federal Government for short-term funding gaps, but analysts say the Buhari-era administration bypassed limits and accountability checks.
Oshiomhole’s comments have reignited debate over the long-term consequences of unchecked monetary expansion and the urgent need for reform within Nigeria’s fiscal and monetary frameworks.
Fresh concerns have emerged over compliance with a court order issued by the High Court of Kano State on April 8, 2026, restraining key parties—including the Honourable Minister of Education, the Kano State Ministry of Land and Physical Planning, the Kano State Urban Development Authority, and Pluck Global Company Limited—from further actions pending the determination of the matter before the court.
Findings indicate that while all parties—except the concessionaire, Pluck Global Company Limited—were duly served within two days of the order, significant challenges were encountered in effecting service on the company, raising troubling questions about its corporate traceability and regulatory vetting.
A review of the company’s records filed with the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) revealed addresses that could not be verified as functional business locations. Notably, documentation submitted to Federal Government College (FGC), Kano, dated June 20, 2024, listed two addresses: 8B, Lalupon Street, off Keffi Street, off Awolowo Road, Ikoyi, Lagos, as its head office, and 3 Bargery Road, Bompai, Kano, as its branch office.
However, a physical visit to the Ikoyi address revealed that the entire property is occupied by a company identified as Golden Alchemy, whose staff категорically denied any knowledge of, or shared occupancy with, Pluck Global Company Limited.
Efforts to trace the Kano address yielded even more unsettling findings. The location—a locked duplex—showed no visible signs of commercial activity. Neighbours, while reluctant to speak on record, alluded to irregular movements at odd hours, casting further doubt on the legitimacy of the premises as a corporate office.
In a twist, after multiple attempts to establish contact, an individual purportedly representing the company surfaced in Kano and agreed to receive and acknowledge the court order on April 11, 2026, at approximately 6:00 pm. Curiously, the Ikoyi address—already discredited—was again listed as the company’s official address in the acknowledgment.
These developments raise critical questions regarding due diligence and Know Your Customer (KYC) protocols on the part of the Federal Ministry of Education. They also cast a spotlight on the Infrastructure Concession Regulatory Commission (ICRC), should a concession agreement indeed have been executed with the company. Stakeholders say it would be instructive to review the addresses contained in all official correspondences and contractual documents linked to the transaction.
Meanwhile, a visit to the premises of Federal Government College, Kano, revealed ongoing construction activity, with workers observed excavating foundations. When approached, the workers declined to disclose the authority under which they were operating—despite the subsistence of a court order restraining further action.
Notably, a previously installed project billboard bearing the insignia of the school authorities and the Federal Ministry of Education had been removed. Sources within the institution suggest that the directive for its removal may have emanated from the Ministry following receipt of the court order.
The unfolding situation presents a complex mix of legal, regulatory, and accountability issues—raising the spectre of possible non-compliance with judicial directives, as well as deeper concerns about transparency in public-private concession arrangements.
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