APM Campaign Tackles Tinubu Over ‘Imaginary Naira Rescue’
APM Campaign Tackles Tinubu Over ‘Imaginary Naira Rescue’
The Allied People’s Movement (APM)
The Makinde-Daura Presidential Campaign Organisation (MDPCO) has accused President Bola Tinubu of attempting to rewrite Nigeria’s economic history by celebrating what it described as an imaginary rescue of the Naira after presiding over its collapse.
The organisation said Tinubu had no reason to seek public applause for the currency’s current exchange rate, arguing that his administration’s economic policies triggered an unprecedented depreciation and worsening hardship.Follow Politics
In a statement on Sunday, its Director of Strategic Communications, Richard Ihediwa, described the President’s claim that Nigerians would have needed wheelbarrows to buy ordinary food items without his intervention as a “callous historical distortion.”
MDPCO recalled that Tinubu inherited an official exchange rate of about N461 to the Dollar on May 29, 2023, but said his removal of fuel subsidy and unification of foreign exchange windows contributed to Naira’s depreciation to nearly N2,000 to the Dollar.Follow Politics
It questioned what economic catastrophe could have been worse than the hardship Nigerians were experiencing under the present administration, citing the rising costs of food, transportation, housing, healthcare and other essential services.
The organisation also faulted Tinubu’s description of the current exchange rate of about N1,340 to the Dollar as “pocketable,” insisting that the figure meant little to citizens whose purchasing power had been severely eroded.Follow Politics
“Even more outrageous is the President’s assertion that a dollar exchanging for N1,340 is ‘pocketable’ and an applaudable economic recovery, when Nigerians cannot afford food, medications and basic necessities,” the statement said.
It further cited figures indicating that more than 140 million Nigerians, representing 63 per cent of the population, live in poverty, while infrastructure deficits stand at $2.3 trillion and public debt has risen to N166.7 trillion.
MDPCO argued that genuine economic recovery should be measured by improvements in citizens’ living conditions rather than movements in the exchange rate, adding that the N70,000 minimum wage could barely purchase a bag of rice.
The organisation urged Tinubu to take responsibility for the economic situation instead of seeking re-election on what it described as false claims and imaginary achievements.
It said Nigeria needed a fundamental economic reset through the Reset Nigeria Agenda of the Allied Peoples Movement (APM) presidential candidate, Seyi Makinde, anchored on the principles of “Stop the Loss, Recover Value and Build Systems That Prevent Failures.”
According to MDPCO, the agenda prioritises affordable energy, reliable electricity, domestic refining, agricultural security, manufacturing, investment and job creation, while ensuring that rising oil revenues translate into improved living conditions rather than increased government borrowing.
It said the choice before Nigerians in 2027 was between an administration that celebrates economic indicators while millions struggle to survive and an alternative that places citizens’ welfare and national prosperity at the centre of governance.
