A member of the All Progressives Congress (APC) Presidential Campaign Council, Segun Showunmi, has dismissed claims by Pat Utomi that the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC) presidential candidate, Peter Obi will strengthen the naira to ₦500 per dollar if elected president.
Naija News reports that Utomi, in a post on 𝕏, had claimed that strengthening the naira from ₦1,350 to ₦500 would help curb inflation, reduce poverty, and improve Nigerians’ purchasing power.
However, speaking via a statement on Friday, Showunmi described the agenda as misleading, arguing that such promise is not realistic and is aimed at deceiving Nigerians.
He argued that Utomi’s claim shows a lack of understanding of how the economy works and how foreign exchange is determined.
According to him, making the naira ₦500 to a dollar is not something that can be achieved just by one man becoming president, as the economy is more complex than that and involves many factors including production, export, and foreign reserves.
He also said politicians should stop making unrealistic promises to Nigerians just to win votes, adding that such promises make people lose trust in politicians.
“‘The fundamental fallacy is the assumption that an administrative or politically declared appreciation of the naira from ₦1,350 to ₦500 per dollar will automatically translate into a 50% reduction in the prices of virtually every essential commodity,” the statement read in part.
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