Makinde campaign to Tinubu: You weakened Naira, stop claiming credit for recovery

By Luminous Jannamike ABUJA – The Makinde-Daura Presidential Campaign Organisation has accused President Bola Tinubu of taking credit for the recovery of the naira after presiding over its depreciation through what it described as poorly managed economic reforms. The organisation said Nigerians were yet to recover from the effects of the currency’s depreciation and rising cost of living, insisting that an improved exchange rate meant little while millions struggled to afford food, medication and other basic necessities.

In a statement by its Director of Strategic Communications, Richard Nnanna Ihediwa, the organisation described Tinubu’s claim that Nigerians would have needed wheelbarrows to purchase ordinary food items without his intervention as a distortion of the country’s economic experience. “Mr President, you cannot preside over the destruction of the purchasing power of our national currency and turn around to seek public applause,” Ihediwa said.

Recalling the exchange rate when Tinubu assumed office on May 29, 2023, the organisation said he inherited an official rate of approximately N461 to the dollar, but his removal of petrol subsidy and unification of foreign exchange windows contributed to the naira’s subsequent depreciation to nearly N2,000 to the dollar. It also faulted the President’s description of an exchange rate of N1,340 to the dollar as ‘pocketable’, arguing that the figure did not reflect the financial reality of ordinary Nigerians.

“The real test of economic recovery is whether Nigerians can afford to live better, not simply whether the naira can exchange for more dollars now than when he plunged it into the abyss,” the organisation argued. Questioning the human cost of the economic hardship, Ihediwa asked: “Does President Tinubu have any empathy towards thousands of Nigerians who lost their lives because they could not afford life-saving food and medications under his administration?” The organisation further cited poverty, a $2.3 trillion infrastructure deficit and public debt of N166.7 trillion as evidence of what it described as the administration’s poor economic record.

“A President seeking re-election must defend his actual record, not campaign on falsehood and imaginary heroism,” it said. Turning to the 2027 election, the organisation presented the RESET Nigeria Agenda of the Allied Peoples Movement (APM) presidential candidate, Seyi Makinde, as an alternative to the Tinubu administration’s economic policies. Anchored on the principles of ‘Stop the Loss, Recover Value and Build Systems That Prevent Failures’, the agenda, according to the organisation, seeks to make citizens’ welfare the measure of economic recovery.

“Under the RESET Nigeria Agenda, rising oil revenues must translate into better living conditions, not merely larger government borrowing,” it said. The organisation said the proposed programme would prioritise affordable energy, reliable electricity, domestic refining, agricultural security, manufacturing, investment and job creation. Ihediwa urged Tinubu to acknowledge what the organisation described as his administration’s failure.