Tinubu attacks Buhari over high exchange rate, says President met N200/$1, now it’s N800/$1

Ilesanmi AdekanbiFebruary 1, 2023

5 minutes read

The presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, has berated President Muhammadu Buhari over the depreciation of the naira and high exchange rate.

Tinubu, who attacked Buhari on Tuesday at the party’s presidential campaign rally in Calabar, Cross River State, saying the president met N200 to a dollar but now high exchange rate.

The APC flagbearer said the Buhari administration has failed to manage the economy very well, which had led to the depreciation of the nation’s currency.

According to Tinubu, when the Buhari government took over, the naira/dollar exchange rate was about N200 to a dollar, but it has depreciated to about N800 to the dollar on the parallel market.

He said: “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.”

Newsflash Nigeria reports that this development comes a few days after Tinubu criticised the Buhari government.

Tinubu had last week in Abeokuta, Ogun State, attacked the federal government for the lingering fuel scarcity in the country as well as the naira redesign project which the Central Bank of Nigeria carried out with the approval of President Muhammadu Buhari.

However, after the statement sparked reactions from the opposition, the former Lagos governor denied that the outburst wasn’t targeted at the president, but at some government officials working with the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

Also at the Calabar rally, Tinubu promised that Cross River State would be converted to the tourism hub of Nigeria if he becomes the president of Nigeria after the February 25, 2023, presidential election.

Tinubu said this while addressing a mammoth crowd of APC stalwarts and supporters that trooped out to grace the presidential campaigns of the party in Calabar.

The APC leader who arrived in Calabar in the company of his running mate Senator Kashim Shettima alongside other party members said: “We will turn the water surroundings and the Atlantic of Cross River State to be better than Florida. Money will come in; this state will become a wonder of tourism in Nigeria. We are promise keepers!

“We mean what we say. When we took over in Lagos, we said what we’ll do in Lagos, and we did it. Today Lagos is exceptionally rich and functional.”

The APC presidential candidate said as president, he would create prosperity, create jobs and create a much stronger economy for the country.

Tinubu told the people of Cross River State not to vote for the candidate of the PDP.

“They (PDP) mismanaged the nation’s economy and privatised assets of the country to themselves and their cronies. Don’t mind them with their lies of 16 years, they cannot even provide electricity to roast corn. They kept lying, the electricity that is generated from our hydro, they don’t know how to do it”, he alleged.

Tinubu praised Senator John Owan-Eno and Mrs. Mary Ekpere for sheathing their swords and working together in unison with others for the victory of the APC at the polls.

Also speaking, a former Leader of the Senate Victor Ndoma-Egba, said the election provides the opportunity for the PDP to be buried finally.

The state governor, Prof. Ben Ayade said the APC would win all the elections in the state.

Ayade asked Tinubu to ensure that the Bakassi Deep Seaport, and the Super Highway become realities when he becomes president of Nigeria.

Meanwhile, at the Awka rally in Anambra State, Tinubu derided two of his co-contestants, Atiku and Mr. Peter Obi of the Labour Party (LP), saying anytime Atiku says “walahi talahi’, what is in his head is, ‘na lie I lie.”

Describing the duo as liars and betrayers, Tinubu, who insisted that he was the only one who has been able to establish a track record of success, with verifiable projects as governor of Lagos State, identified Governor Chukwuma Soludo as a thinker he was ready to work with as well as promised to tackle the challenge of erosion in the state the same way he tackled the menace of ocean surge in Lagos.

“You will have the industrial hub in Anambra. We are not like PDP that forgot your rail line. They are liars. When you hear Atiku uses the word and say ‘walahi talahi’, what is in his head is “na lie I lie”. Anytime you hear him say Walahi talqhi,, just reply and say, “na lie I lie.

“The man who left here, he calls himself Peter Obi. We read in the bible that before the cock crows, he will deny Jesus Christ. Is it not true? So, how can he keep his promise to you? He cannot prove a point. Has Bola Tinubu not proved a point? Did I close any market? Did I kill anyone? I’m a thinker and a doer, I even tamed the Atlantic,” he said

Speaking on his promises for the people of Anambra State, Tinubu said, “You want to make Anambra a highly dependable state right? That is the memory of my dear friend Chuba Okadigbo. That is what we will continue to carry on – the joy of Chuba Okadigbo. Youths of Anambra, I’m here today to concretise the promise of development that will promise you restoration and industrialization.

“You know me, you know Tinubu, the city boy of Lagos? You know I had the Atlantic tamed in Lagos? The way we tamed the Atlantic Ocean is the same way we will tame the erosion in the eastern region. We will tame the erosion. We will make the value of your property worth more than 1,000 time of your investment.

“We will create jobs for our youths. We will industrialise and make Anambra both the economic city and the economic centre of Nigeria. Your resources will be applied to create handwork and hard work, better paying jobs.

“We are not like the other party that comes here to lie to you. Tell them when they bring their lie, ask them how long will it take their lies to travel from Port Harcourt to Onitsha, Onitsha to Aba?

“You see their lies, for 16 years, PDP lied that they will give industrialisation, but instead they sold our assets to themselves and they called it privatisation. Privatisation to their own pockets. They privatised the industry to their pockets.

“The hour has come, your PVC is the master, the voice of commandment. Atiku said he is the candidate of the north, is that not a dog whistle? Is that not a division among us. Anambra people lived well, in prosperity and joy with me in Lagos. I started paying WAEC fees, I didn’t discriminate whether you are Igbo, Christian or anybody, I paid for everybody.”

He, however, eulogised Soludo, saying, “Soludo, your son is not contesting with me or against me. He is a brilliant man, he has the brain, he is a thinker, he knows the way. We will work together. When I become the president, Soludo will be one of those advisers, who will bring prosperity back to you. So, the way you voted for Soludo is the way you vote for Bola Tinubu.”

Director General of the APC presidential campaign council, Senator Margery Okadigbo, who spoke at the rally said, the massive attendance was indicative of the love the people of the state had for Tinubu, and that they were ready to vote for him during the election.