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Tinubu Can’t Make Naira Equal the Worth of Dollar- Former Minister

An elder statesman and a former Minister of Lands, Housing and Urban Development, Chief Nduese Essien, has refuted Bola Tinubu’s assertion that, if elected president of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in 2023, he could bring the value of the naira to parity with the US currency.

According to reports, a Local government chairman in Lagos State, Ayodele Adewale, on Wednesday, when he appeared on Arise TV, remarked that it would be possible for Tinubu to make the naira equal the US dollars.

“I talked about bringing one dollar to naira, which is possible. Asiwaju has the political capital to bring investment to this country”, Adewale had said.

Chief Essien, responding on Friday in Uyo, asserted that the APC presidential candidate lacked the kind of magic hand needed to make the naira equal the worth of the dollar. He claimed that such campaign hyperbole was only appropriate for the marines.

He voiced displeasure over the Naira’s appalling devaluation, which has gone from its initial meeting with this administration, in which Tinubu is a co-traveller, at the rate of N150, to its current value of N610 to the US dollar ($1).

“International currencies are not manipulated the way Bola Tinubu surreptitiously took the Mobil Producing Nigeria Unlimited Headquarters to Lagos away from its area of operations to the detriment of the Oil Producing Areas and has continued to sustain its maintenance there despite all the protestations from the rest of the country and in keeping with international best practice.

“Tinubu cannot be trusted because, as the leader of the All Progressive Congress, the party has failed the country in all its campaign promises. He has nothing new to offer the nation”,  He asserted.

In order to participate in the leadership recruitment process, he urged all Nigerians of voting age to take advantage of the Independent National Electoral Commission’s (INEC) extension on PVC registration.

On the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) platform, a former member of the House of Representatives referred to the claim as being unreasonable and recalled that Tinubu had made a like claim during Muhammadu Buhari’s 2015 presidential campaign.

His words: “Tinubu made this kind of statement in 2015 when he was campaigning for Muhammadu Buhari. Seven years along the line, he couldn’t show the president how to appreciate the Naira. Why then should anybody with knowledge of the global economy believe him.

“That’s how it started in 2014, leading to the opposition against President Goodluck Jonathan on how the Naira will be at par with the US Dollar if Buhari is voted to power. That claim is unrealistic, given that he may likely follow the economic path of Buhari if voted into power.

“Why has Tinubu failed to assist President Buhari in arresting the steady fall of the Naira against other international currencies but waiting until he becomes President in 2023 before he miraculously intervenes.”

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