Fakoyejo Olalekan
The Chairman of United Bank for Africa (UBA), Tony Elumelu, has come under criticism from a former gubernatorial candidate, Babatunde Gbadamosi after a video emerged showing the investment banker congratulating Bola Tinubu, Nigeria’s President-Elect.
Elumelu called Tinubu the “last man standing,” after the former Lagos State governor paid the UBA major shareholder a courtesy visit at his home.
Join our WhatsApp ChannelTinubu’s victory at the poll has been rejected by the two closest rivals, Peter Obi of the Labour Party and Abubakar Atiku, the presidential candidate of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP).
Both Obi and Atiku have gone to court to demand access to the polling units results of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), claiming the election was rigged in favour of Tinubu.
Amid the court battle, Elumelu entertained Tinubu at his residence, sparking reactions from the former Lagos State gubernatorial candidate, Gbadamosi.
In a post via his Twitter account on Thursday, 9 March 2023, addressing the video, Gbadamosi said the friendship shown in the video by Tinubu and Elumelu, the boss of a top Nigerian bank, raises questions relating to Naira scarcity.
“Is this Tony Elumelu? Questions have been asked about the scarcity of new notes & the closeness of certain influential figures in the financial services sector to Bola Tinubu.
“The conviviality on display here certainly raises serious questions in this current atmosphere of naira note scarcity,” Gbadamosi wrote on Twitter.
Recall that there have been speculations that banks are hoarding the new Naira notes from the public, making it available to politicians.
Prime Business Africa previously reported that the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) had hinted that politicians are mopping the redesigned N200, N500 and N1,000 with the aid of Deposit Money Banks (DMBs).
As a result, the central bank began to monitor commercial banks, mandating them to only disburse the new Naira notes via the Auto Teller Machines (ATMs), which will not dispense money based on profile, compared to over-the-counter withdrawals.
“We will be visiting commercial banks to ensure that they give out the new naira notes to the public to do their businesses. We will make sure that the new notes made available to banks are not diverted to politicians only,” CBN’s Awka-Anambra State Branch Controller, Benedict Maduagwu, said two months ago.
