I would have done better as Nigerian president than Tinubu – Peter Obi
The presidential candidate of the Labour Party in the 2023 general elections, Peter Obi, has mocked the administration of President Bola Tinubu, saying he (Obi) would have done same naira devaluation in a productive and organised manner.
In an interview on Arise TV, Obi stated that Tinubu has continued to fulfill his promise of “continuing from where Buhari stopped.”
“He (Tinubu) is doing well because what he promised people is exactly what he is doing— that he would start and continue from where the previous government stopped,” Obi said.
“Someone who met the dollar at 300 to 400, and now it is 1,500 — he has done fantastic.”
“What is happening can be turned around with a competent leader who has the capacity and compassion to serve. I would make sure to address Nigerians at least once every month,” he added.
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“The President that is there today how many years has he spent, two years and you could see where we are.”
“That means you can change things in two years. If I was there in two years, you would have seen a considerable change in critical areas. I would have tackled corruption head on. I would have reduced cost of governance and you would see it, people would feel it,” he said on the interview.
“Our primary healthcare today, 70 percent (of it) are not functional and we spent over N35billion on conference, which conference? who is coming for the conference? You need to invest your money properly, You would have been seeing borrowed money invested in critical areas,” he opined.
“In Bangladesh, a country with one 148,000 km² of land is producing about 60 million metric tons of rice and us, with over six times that size of land cannot do 10 percent of that,” Obi noted.
He also spoke on devaluation of naira, “There’s nothing wrong in devaluation, but I would have allowed the naira to float. I would have done it in an organised manner. There will be productivity. The idea of devaluing your currency, allowing it to float is that you have productivity so you can export, so people can come and buy.”
It would be recalled that Tinubu had launched controversial policies, such as the removal of fuel subsidies and the devaluation of the naira.
During his swearing-in event in 2023, Tinubu had declared the “subsidy is gone,” a move that was met with condemnation and a sharp increase in petroleum prices across the country.
His devaluation of the naira has also been blamed for the rising cost of living in Nigeria.
The Tinubu-led administration has continued to defend its policies, even as Nigerians express frustration. The government insists that its policies will ultimately strengthen the country’s economy.
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