Vice President Kashim Shettima has voiced his dismay towards Nigerians who derive joy from the naira’s decline against the dollar, labelling them as ‘clowns’. He conveyed this sentiment during a function in Abuja on January 31, as seen in a video shared by Symfoni.
He said:
“It is not only disheartening and disenchanting, but also heartbreaking that yesterday when the naira culminated to N1,500 to the dollar, instead of us to coagulate into a single force and salvage our nation economy, sadly, some clowns are celebrating on Twitter of an impending implosion of the Nigerian economy.”
The naira has experienced a significant decline, reaching a new all-time low in the official Investor and Exporter window of the foreign exchange market. It closed at N1482.57 per US dollar on Tuesday, marking a substantial 9.93% drop from N1348.63/$ on Monday, as reported by FMDQ Securities Exchange.
However, recall that Tinubu, in his economic manifesto, said that his administration would work with the central bank to stabilize the naira against the dollar.
He projected that in the first term of his administration, the naira exchange rate for the Dollar would trade at N200.
His words precisely were: “My administration will collaborate with the Central Bank to harmonize the fiscal and monetary policy to achieve immediate stabilization of the value of the naira against the US dollars and other currencies and in short term strengthen the naira by boosting the supply of foreign currency and moderating demand.
“The short-term goal is to achieve a naira/dollar of 300 naira/US$ and gradually achieve a less than 200 naira rate over the next four years.”
Assuring the people during his campaign in December 2022, Tinubu said, “when I become president, multiple exchange rates will go away. Write it down.”
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