Tinubu Never Promised To Reduce Dollar Rate To N200 – Lawmaker Says

A member of the House of Representatives, Lawan Ali, said President Bola Tinubu didn’t promise to bring the dollar rate down to N200/$1.

Ali, in a statement on Wednesday during the lower chamber’s plenary session, said he never heard Tinubu make such a campaign promise before he was elected.

He said Tinubu should be cut some slack, as it is too early to judge the performance of his government through the dollar rate.

The lawmaker stated this after comments made by his colleague, Beni Lar, who questioned why the dollar rate has been on the rise under Tinubu when he promised that the naira will exchanged for the USD at N200 during his administration.

Quoting Lar directly, she said that in July 2022, “the rate was $1 to 670 naira, while in July 2023, the exchange rate is now $1 to 815 naira, shortly after the new administration had promised during the campaigns and upon inauguration to stabilise Nigeria’s exchange rate at N200 to $1.”

Ali cautioned that Tinubu never stated what she claimed, “I have never heard of the President promising to make the dollar equal to N200. The President took the bull by the horns to remove the subsidy. We must commend his efforts and not by way of challenge. We need to support him. 

“We should be fair to this current government. It’s too early to judge the performance of the government with regard to the dollar. This government inherited insecurity. If people are not encouraged to come and invest, there is no way it (the economy) will grow. We should give this government time before assessing it,” he said. 

However, Prime Business Africa notes that Tinubu made the promise in his manifesto, where he stated that his short-term plan is to strengthen the naira against the dollar to N300/$1, while his long-term plan is N200/$1.

“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 the 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 rate of 300 naira/US$ and gradually achieve a less than 200 naira rate over the next four years,” Tinubu’s manifesto reads.