Bola Ahmed Tinubu, presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress has said he would eliminate Nigeria’s current multiple foreign exchange rate if elected president in 2023.
Tinubu made the remark at a business dialogue organised by Business Forward for intellectual engagement between politics and business in Lagos yesterday.
“I will eliminate multiple FX exchange rate regimes when I become the president in 2023,” he said.
Demand pressure has continued to widen the gap between the naira-dollar exchange rates at the official and parallel foreign exchange markets in Africa’s biggest economy, thus making it difficult for manufacturers to get the volume of dollars they need for imports.
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The APC presidential candidate also promised to end fuel subsidy when he becomes the country’s president in 2023.
“No matter how long you protest, my administration will remove the fuel subsidy if I am elected,” he added.
Tinubu acknowledged that oil and gas will continue to be key in turning Nigeria’s beleaguered economy around.
He called on the European nations to invest in building a pipeline to connect the continent to Nigeria’s 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 daily on subsidy.
Nigeria recorded N16 trillion from crude oil sales between January to September, according to government data, but nothing often gets saved owing to subsidy.
On education, Tinubu says his team is working on a clear road map for the sector and promised to introduce student loans for a four-year course for students in tertiary schools.
According to him, no Nigerian would be left behind as regard education if elected as the 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 become the president,” he said.
“We would break the bottlenecks on the ease of doing business,” he noted.
The APC presidential candidate urged Nigerians not to re-elect him for a second term if he fails to deliver on his mandate made to them during his first tenure.
“Don’t vote for me for the second term if I fail on my promises,”
Tinubu noted that he has listened to the ideas shared by the business community during the engagement and promised to act on them.
Speaking also during the lunch with the business community, Babjide Sanwo-Olu, Governor of Lagos said the success of the rail line project that was unveiled Wednesday in the state was the vision of Bola Tinubu.
“It is the power of visioning and can-do spirit that brought the blue line into reality,” Sanwo-Olu said.
