2023: Tinubu Has Nothing New To Offer Nigerians- Former Minister

By Dominic Akpan

UYO 

The presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in next year’s general elections has been told that he has nothing new to offer Nigerians as his party, and the government of President Muhammadu Buhari, whom the former governor of Lagos State helped to bring to power in 2015, has failed on all fronts.

Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, was also told by Chief Nduese Essien, a former minister of lands, housing and urban development that the promise of making one US dollar equivalent to one naira, was not realisable, adding international currencies are not manipulated the way Tinubu surreptitiously took Mobil Product Nigeria Unlimited headquarters away from its area of production to Lagos State. 

Tinubu’s campaign manager, Mr. Ayodele Adewale, had said few days ago during an interview on Arise TV that the presidential candidate of the APC, is working on bringing one naira to equate with one US dollar, if he wins the presidential election. 

‘To improve the economy to the extent that we can drive down the high cost of the Naira to the dollar. ‘We are looking at a system where we can bring it at equal par, one naira to one Dollar,” Mr Adewale said.

Reacting to Tinubu’s promise, Chief Essien, who spoke with Pioneer Politics on the phone said that Nigerians would not be swayed by such unfounded and cheap campaign talk to vote for APC in 2023 general elections, as they did in 2015. 

He wondered why Tinubu has not helped Buhari to bring the naira, which he said the APC-led administration met at N150,00 to 1$, in 2015, but had since been on a free fall, hovering at N610 to one US dollar, to arrest the depreciation, but he wants to do it when he becomes the president. 

“Tinubu made this kind of statement in 2015, when he was campaigning for Buhari. It is more than seven years now and Tinubu has not shown the president how to appreciate the naira.

‘Why then should anybody with knowledge of how the global economy works, believe him”, the former two-term member of the House of Representatives queried Tinubu.

Continuing, Essien recalled that it started in 2014, leading to the opposition against then President Goodluck Jonathan with the talk that one naira will be at par with one US dollar if Buhariwas voted to power, and Nigerians fell for it. 

While describing the promise as unrealistic, Essien said that Tinubu may likely follow Buhari’s economic policies if he wins. 

“Tinubu cannot be trusted because as the leader of the All Progressives Congress, the party has failed the country in all its campaign promises.

‘He has nothing new to offer the nation”, the former minister said and called on Nigerians of voting age to make use of the extension given by Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) on registration for permanent voters card, so that they will be eligible to vote in the 2023 general elections.

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