EXTRA: Without reforms, Nigerians would have bought tomatoes with naira notes in wheelbarrows, says Tinubu
EXTRA: Without reforms, Nigerians would have bought tomatoes with naira notes in wheelbarrows, says Tinubu
President Bola Tinubu says Nigerians would have needed naira notes in wheelbarrows to buy tomatoes if his administration had not introduced economic reforms.
Tinubu spoke on Friday at an All Progressives Congress (APC) rally in Uyo, Akwa Ibom, where he asked residents to support his re-election bid in the January 16, 2027, presidential election.
The president said the reforms were necessary to prevent the country from sliding into bankruptcy, despite the hardship they had caused Nigerians.
“When I took over, 27 governors out of 36 of this country were unable to pay salary obligations, not to talk of pension and gratuity,” he said.
“Today, I stand before you, able to say we are out of the dark tunnel. I can beat my chest to say we are out of the greatest despair, the dark journey of uncertainty, and the calamitous possible bankruptcy.”
Tinubu said the naira could have lost virtually all its value if his administration had not taken difficult decisions.
“If we didn’t take a decision the day I took over, we will use wheelbarrows to move our naira because it would have become valueless. Nothing,” he said.
“We are talking of 1,300 now to a dollar because it still has pocketable value. If we had left it, it would have been a wheelbarrow when you go to the market to buy tomatoes. That is the truth.”
The president acknowledged that the reforms had imposed difficulties on Nigerians, saying he understood the pressure households were facing.
“It is difficult. It was hard. It was hard for me too. I could say, well, by history, I am a comfortable man. I don’t know the pain of the market, but I share your pain. I share the difficulty,” he said.
Tinubu also cited his administration’s education policy as part of its efforts to ease the burden on families, saying he had decided to remove the responsibility of tuition fees from parents.
The president urged voters to support his second-term ambition, describing the 2027 election as consequential for the country’s future.
