"If you have riots like you had in Ibadan and Benin - I don't know anywhere else - and they were taking place simultaneously, and you are now dealing with the issue of protecting lives and properties, will elections become a priority?"
Adams Oshiomhole, a former governor of Edo State, says violent protests over the scarcity of the new Naira notes may lead to the suspension of the forthcoming elections, if not addressed.
Mr Oshiomhole, who is the Deputy Director General of the All Progressives Congress (APC) Presidential Campaign Council, described the Central Bank of Nigeria's policy as "senseless", adding that it is not the job of the bank to stop "vote buying".
He stated this on Sunday during an interview on Channels TV.
"If you have riots like you had in Ibadan and Benin - I don't know anywhere else - and they were taking place simultaneously, and you are now dealing with the issue of protecting lives and properties, will elections become a priority?
"So, it is in that context that whoever scuttles the elections would have scuttled the chances of the APC winning the election.
"You could see that the intention of the Bank is not to eliminate abuses but to stop the elections from taking place," Mr Oshiomhole said.
The CBN has set 10 February as the deadline for phasing out the old N200, N500 and N1, 000 notes. However, the implementation of the policy has created scarcity of the new notes across the country.
Members of the ruling party have been very vocal against the policy.
The presidential candidate of the party, Bola Tinubu, the Vice President, Yemi Osinbajo, Governor Nasir El Rufai of Kaduna State and several others within the party have criticised the policy.
Last week, some governors under the ruling party visited Mr Buhari to discuss the policy with him but the president asked for seven days to respond.
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However, the presidential candidates of the Peoples Democracy Party (PDP) and Labour Party, Atiku Abubakar and Peter Obi respectively, have backed the policy. Mr Obi asked Nigerians to patient with the federal government.
When he appeared before an ad hoc committee of the House of Representatives last week, the CBN Governor, Godwin Emefiele, said banks must accept the old notes beyond the 10 February deadline.
'Emefiele deceived Buhari'
During the interview, Mr Oshiomhole also accused Mr Emefiele of deceiving President Muhammadu Buhari on the policy.
"CBN's naira redesign policy is senseless... CBN deceived Buhari and the intention behind it was to stop the elections.
"So, I can guess - I was not there - that in obtaining the approval, I believe the CBN deceived the president by amplifying the need to have corruption-free electioneering as if election is the only project this president has a responsibility for.
"To assume that every Nigerian is corrupt--and that this policy is meant to check corruption... the CBN is not part of the institutions charged with the responsibility of ensuring free, fair and credible elections. That is not in the Act establishing the CBN," Mr Oshiomhole said.
The presidential and National Assembly elections are billed for 25 February, while governorship and States Assembly polls are scheduled for 11 March.
