Oshiomhole: Excessive Printing Of ₦31 Trillion Destroyed Naira, Raised Cost Of Living

Senator representing Edo North, Adams Oshiomhole, has blamed the collapse of the naira on the excessive money printing carried out under former President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration through the Central Bank’s “Ways and Means” facility.

Speaking on Saturday during a Progressives Governors Forum meeting and interactive session in Benin City, Edo State, Oshiomhole compared Nigeria’s situation to historical economic disasters in Zimbabwe and Uganda, saying the former CBN governor effectively flooded the economy with printed money without backing it by real earnings.

“The immediate past CBN governor printed over ₦31 trillion under what they called ‘Ways and Means.’ That’s a fancy term. It simply means printing banknotes not supported by any actual resources — just to distribute money and sustain illusions of wealth,” Oshiomhole said.

According to the senator, this reckless approach directly triggered the naira’s freefall against the dollar and fueled the current high cost of living.

Oshiomhole explained that under Buhari, Nigeria borrowed relentlessly, likening it to how “a fish drinks water daily,” leaving President Bola Tinubu’s administration saddled with massive debts it must repay to preserve the nation’s sovereignty.

He concluded by emphasizing that the Tinubu government has now ended this dangerous practice, but the consequences of past fiscal mismanagement continue to weigh heavily on Nigerians.