President Bola Tinubu has mounted a defence of his economic policies, insisting that the national currency would have suffered total collapse without his administration's foreign exchange decisions.
Tinubu made the remarks during an All Progressives Congress campaign gathering held in Akwa Ibom State, according to Punch. Addressing supporters at the event, the president responded to ongoing public criticism regarding the sharp decline of the naira against foreign currencies, particularly the United States dollar.
Defending the current market conditions, Tinubu noted that the naira, which he stated is trading around N1,300 to a dollar, still retains practical purchasing power. He maintained that the alternative of leaving the old monetary system in place would have led to extreme currency devaluation.
The president explained that without immediate intervention upon his inauguration, Nigerians would have ended up carrying huge piles of cash just to buy basic everyday items. He stated that citizens would have needed wheelbarrows to move money to markets if the administration had avoided reforming the foreign exchange system.
Tinubu implemented the unification of Nigeria's multiple foreign exchange windows in June 2023, shortly after his inauguration as head of state. The measure was designed to overhaul the currency market, eliminate currency arbitrage, and close the longstanding gap between official and unofficial exchange rates.
Following that reform, the currency experienced significant fluctuations. The naira slid from approximately N750 per dollar to a low of about N1,900 before rebounding to its current level of around N1,300, according to Tinubu.
