Bola Ahmed Tinubu, the All Progressives Congress presidential candidate, has said he would do away with Nigeria’s current multiple exchange rate if he were elected president in 2023.
Tinubu made the comment at a business dialogue organized yesterday by Business Forward for intellectual engagement between politics and business in Lagos.
“I will eliminate multiple foreign exchange rate regimes when I become president in 2023,” he said.
Demand pressure has continued to widen the gap between the naira and dollar exchange rates on official and shadow currency markets in Africa’s largest economy, making it difficult for manufacturers to source the volume of dollars they need to imports.
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The APC presidential candidate has also vowed to end the fuel subsidy when he assumes the country’s presidency in 2023.
“No matter how long I protest, my administration will remove the fuel subsidy if I am elected,” he added.
Tinubu acknowledged that oil and gas will remain key to turning around Nigeria’s beleaguered economy.
He called on European nations to invest in building a pipeline to connect the mainland with Nigerian gas, noting that during his administration the country would compete with Russia for the European market.
The Nigerian economy is reeling from the effect of paying billions a day in subsidies.
Nigeria recorded N16 trillion crude oil sales between January and September, according to government data, but often nothing is saved due to subsidies.
In education, Tinubu says his team is working on a clear roadmap for the sector and has promised to introduce student loans for a four-year course for tertiary school students.
According to him, no Nigerian would be left behind in education if he were elected president next year.
He said his administration would replicate the judicial reforms he achieved in Lagos as a former governor.
“I was successful in judicial reform in Lagos and I will do it again at the national level when I am president,” he said.
“We would break bottlenecks in the ease of doing business,” he said.
The APC presidential candidate urged Nigerians not to re-elect him for a second term if he fails to fulfill the mandate he entrusted to them during his first term.
“Don’t vote for me for the second term if I don’t keep my promises”
Tinubu noted that he listened to the ideas shared by the business community during the engagement and vowed to act on it.
Also speaking at lunch with the business community, Babjide Sanwo-Olu, Governor of Lagos, said the success of the railway project unveiled in the state on Wednesday was the vision of Bola Tinubu.
“It is the power of vision and the spirit of doing that made the blue line a reality,” Sanwo-Olu said.
