The presidential candidate of the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC), Peter Obi, has said he will retain President Bola Tinubu’s naira float policy if elected president in 2027, but would focus on boosting productivity to strengthen the currency.
Obi made the disclosure during an interview on ARISE NEWS on Thursday when asked to identify one policy of the Tinubu administration he would retain if elected.
“There’s one – the floating of the Naira. I’m not going to defend it. But I’m going to put productivity to make it more valuable to the people,” Obi said.
The former Anambra State governor’s position means he would maintain the floating exchange-rate framework introduced by the Tinubu administration rather than return Nigeria to a system of administratively determined multiple exchange rates.
However, Obi said his approach would differ by placing greater emphasis on increasing domestic production and economic output to strengthen the value of the naira.
The Tinubu administration introduced the foreign exchange reform in June 2023 as part of measures aimed at unifying Nigeria’s foreign exchange market and allowing market forces to play a greater role in determining the naira’s value.
The Central Bank of Nigeria subsequently removed restrictions at the Investors and Exporters foreign exchange window, effectively ending the previous multiple exchange-rate regime.
The reforms were followed by a sharp depreciation of the naira, which moved from below ₦500 to the dollar around the beginning of the administration to above ₦1,000/$ and subsequently crossed ₦1,500/$ at various points.
The policy has remained one of the most debated economic reforms of the Tinubu administration, with supporters arguing that it was necessary to eliminate distortions and improve transparency in the foreign exchange market, while critics have focused on its impact on inflation and living costs.
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