Former President Muhammadu Buhari has explained that his approval of the naira redesign policy was aimed at safeguarding his integrity and preventing questions about his reputation.
In an interview with NTA, Buhari spoke for the first time since handing over the presidency to President Bola Tinubu.
He highlighted the necessity of the redesigned banknotes to curb the circulation of ill-gotten money.
The central bank, under Buhari’s endorsement, had announced plans to redesign and introduce a new series of three banknotes in October 2022.
The decision caused disruptions in the country’s cash flow during the general elections.
“Whether Nigerians believe it or not, we are an underdeveloped country. And in that sort of situation, there’s materialism and sometimes ruthlessly they didn’t care how they made the money,” he said.
“I still feel that the only way I could deprive these people was just to make sure that my integrity became unquestionable… I think as a developing country we still have a long way to go.
“The motivation (for the policy) was to try and make Nigerians believe that there is no shortcut to successful leadership.”
Buhari also spoke about how technology made him win the 2015 presidential polls after previous futile attempts.
“Instead of people expressing sympathy, people laughed at me because I didn’t have money, because I couldn’t buy influence in any form, either from influential people or others. And I said ‘God dey’. And he sent the Permanent Voter Card (PVC). Meaning you now have only one vote,” the ex-president said.
Buhari also stated that he is not certain he accomplished everything he set out to accomplish as Nigeria’s president from 2015 to 2023, but that he does not miss being out of office.