Stop Seeking Applause For Imaginary Naira Rescue, Makinde Campaign Tells Tinubu

The Makinde-Daura Presidential Campaign Organisation (MDPCO) has berated President Bola Ahmed Tinubu for presiding over the collapse of the naira, only to turn around to seek public applause for an imaginary rescue of a currency his policies destroyed.

In a statement signed by its Director of Strategic Communications, Richard Nnanna Ihediwa, the campaign described Tinubu’s attempt to rewrite Nigeria’s recent economic history as an audacious evasion of responsibility and an insult to the intelligence and collective memory of Nigerians who have endured the devastating consequences of his administration’s economic mismanagement.

“This attempt by President Tinubu to rewrite Nigeria’s recent catastrophic economic history is an audacious evasion of responsibility, an insult to the intelligence and collective memory of Nigerians, who have endured the devastating consequences of his administration’s economic mismanagement of our national patrimony,” the statement said.

The organisation faulted Tinubu’s claim that Nigerians would have needed wheelbarrows to purchase ordinary food items but for his intervention, describing it as a callous historical distortion and another reason Nigerians should vote him out in 2027.

“Tinubu’s claim that Nigerians would have needed wheelbarrows to purchase ordinary food items but for his intervention, is a callous historical distortion and another reason Nigerians should vote him out in 2027,” it said.

“Mr. President, you cannot preside over the destruction of the purchasing power of our national currency and turn around to seek public applause,” it added.

The MDPCO reminded the President that he inherited an official exchange rate of approximately ₦461 to the US dollar on May 29, 2023.

“In case you forgot, Mr President, you inherited an official exchange rate of approximately ₦461 to the US dollar on May 29, 2023. Your abrupt and poorly sequenced economic reforms, particularly the removal of petroleum subsidy and the unification of foreign exchange windows, triggered a tragic depreciation of the naira to nearly ₦2,000 to a dollar,” the campaign said.

“One wonders which economic catastrophe as you claimed in Uyo, would have been worse than what Nigerians are passing through under you as their wages, savings and purchasing power evaporated; cost of food, transportation, housing and essential commodities and services spiralled beyond their reach,” it said.

“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?” it queried.

“Mr. President, take responsibility rather than create an imaginary worse tragedy!” it added.

The campaign also described as outrageous the President’s assertion that a dollar exchanging for ₦1,340 is “pocketable” and applaudable economic recovery.

“Even more outrageous is the President’s assertion that a dollar exchanging for ₦1,340 is ‘pocketable’; and applaudable economic recovery, when Nigerians cannot afford food, medications and basic necessities; at a time the N70,000 National Minimum Wage can barely afford a bag of rice, and when Nigerians are working harder but getting poorer by the day,” it said.

“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,” it added.

“Is it not provocative that President Tinubu could say that the naira is pocketable and that the economy is flourishing, when over 140 million Nigerians (63% of the population) live in poverty, with grim picture of infrastructure deficits standing at $2.3 trillion, and public debt soaring to a record ₦166.7 trillion on account of his insatiable appetite for foreign loans?” it asked.

“A President seeking re-election must defend his actual record, not campaigning on falsehood and imaginary heroism,” it said.

“From President Tinubu’s claims, it is clear that his administration can only lead Nigeria to a total economic collapse if by any stroke of imagination, it is re-elected,” it added.

The MDPCO said what Nigeria needs now is a fundamental reset, as articulated in the RESET NIGERIA Agenda presented by the Presidential Candidate of the Allied Peoples Movement (APM), Engr. Seyi Makinde.

“What Nigeria needs now is a fundamental reset, as articulated in the RESET NIGERIA Agenda presented by the Presidential Candidate of the Allied Peoples Movement (APM), Engr. Seyi Makinde,” it said.

“The RESET Agenda contains a fundamental difference between the current defence of economic hardship and a clear pathway to recovery built around the welfare of citizens on the principles of ‘Stop the Loss, Recover Value and Build Systems That Prevent Failures,'” it added.

“Under the RESET Nigeria Agenda, rising oil revenues must translate into better living conditions, not merely larger government borrowing,” it said.

“Affordable energy, reliable electricity, domestic refining, agricultural security, manufacturing, investment and job creation must become measurable instruments of economic recovery,” it added.

“Through transparent oil revenue management, the wealth of our nation must work for its people,” it said.

“The choice before Nigerians in 2027 is therefore clear. To choose an administration that celebrates voodoo economic indicators while millions struggle to survive, or a new direction that puts citizens, productive capacity and national prosperity at the centre of governance,” it said.

“Engr. Seyi Makinde’s RESET Nigeria Agenda offers that alternative. We urge President Tinubu to accept the fact that he has failed and stop ridiculing himself with his hollow campaign rhetoric,” it said.