By Gbenga Oloniniran
The presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress, Bola Tinubu, has slammed the regime of the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari(retd.), over naira depreciation.
This comes a few days after Tinubu had also criticised the lingering fuel scarcity and the Central Bank of Nigeria’s naira swap policy in the Buhari regime.
However, the APC denied that the outburst wasn’t targeted at the President, but at the Peoples Democratic Party. Tinubu has also said he would continue to support Buhari.
Tinubu, while speaking at the APC’s presidential campaign rally in Calabar, Cross River State on Tuesday, said when the regime took over, the naira to dollar exchange rate was about N200 to a dollar, but it depreciated to about N800 to the dollar on the parallel market.
“Today, they moved the exchange rate from N200 to N800. If they had repaired it, if they had arrested this, we won’t be where we are today, we will be greater.
“They don’t know the way, they don’t know how to think, they don’t know how to do,” Tinubu said.
The PUNCH reports that Tinubu while in Calabar promised to create jobs for the teeming unemployed youths if voted as President in the forthcoming general election.
He made the promise to a mammoth crowd of supporters during his campaign rally at the UJ Esuene Stadium, Calabar on Tuesday.
He also promised to make Nigeria prosperous, adding that, “Our economy is unhelpfully designed to export raw materials and import increasingly expensive finished products.”
“Crude oil still provides most of our foreign exchange and agriculture has traditionally been the backbone of this nation and will continue to be.
“However, we must acknowledge the growing importance of our urban population which exceeds 50 per cent, about 100 million people under our government.
“Our cities and towns will witness a level of industrial activity unprecedented in our nation’s history.
“Youths shall become the leading catalyst driving economic resurgence. The allocation of revenue between federal and state governments will be adjusted to give states greater flexibility to foster grassroots economic development.
“Our government will give priority to encouraging industries vital to national development by growing our industrial base to provide jobs to an expanding urban population,” he said.
Source: The Punch