Former Vice President and Presidential Candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the last election, Atiku Abubakar, says the manner the present administration’s Forex policy was hurriedly put together is responsible for the present state of affairs. Atiku expressed disappointment in President Tinubu’s failure, “to showcase any concrete policy steps that his administration is taking to contain the crises of currency fluctuation and poverty that face the country.”
Atiku advocated for a sound FX management policy, suggesting a managed-floating system to stabilize the Naira’s value. He highlighted Nigeria’s limited foreign reserves and declining oil receipts as reasons to adopt a controlled FX system. The former Vice President suggested a gradualist approach to stabilize the naira’s value against the dollar, contrasting it with the current free-float system. He also highlighted his past policy prescriptions to reform the foreign exchange market and eliminate multiple exchange rate windows, criticizing the current system for enriching opportunists and fraudsters.
Meanwhile, the Presidency in response, rejected Atiku’s proposal for managing Nigeria’s foreign exchange crisis, calling it misguided. Presidential spokesperson Bayo Onanuga criticized Atiku for suggesting a controlled floatation of the Naira, likening it to the policy implemented by Godwin Emefiele’s administration. This policy involved spending an estimated $1.5 billion monthly to shore up the Naira, a practice that was deemed corrupt. Onanuga defended the current government’s policies, stating that Atiku’s proposal would lead to similar issues of arbitrage and round-tripping.