If You Look At Value Of Naira, Use It To Tell Obi He's Talking Nonsense, It Won't Work — Professor Oke Ikechukwu

Professor of Strategic Management and Human Capital Development at Development Specs Academy, Professor Oke Ikechukwu, has said the APC government cannot dismiss Peter Obi’s criticism by pointing to the naira, because the decline of the currency strengthens Obi’s call for President Bola Tinubu’s resignation.

Speaking on Arise News, Ikechukwu was asked about Obi’s call for Tinubu to resign, noting that Obi argued the president has not met expectations and recalled that Tinubu made a similar demand of Goodluck Jonathan in the past.

He explained that Obi’s position is not simply a demand for resignation but an assessment that the president is underperforming across several areas and therefore should not remain in office.

Ikechukwu said there are multiple grounds for such a call. He noted that within a week of Tinubu’s inauguration, the removal of the fuel subsidy severely affected livelihoods. He recalled that when Buhari assumed office, the naira traded around 197 to 200 per dollar.

He pointed out that the naira later weakened sharply under the current administration and has moved from about 400 to between 1,300 and 1,500 per dollar. He said the broader record of APC has been one of economic and security decline.

He noted that insecurity has worsened, with frequent kidnapping, banditry, insurgency, and attacks on communities and military facilities in recent months, which he said is worse than the situation between 2000 and 2017.

On the economy, he said official claims of lower inflation do not match market realities for ordinary Nigerians. 

He added that Nigeria is not a parliamentary system, so if Tinubu resigns, it will not automatically change structures of government or trigger fresh elections.

In his words, "And if you then say, OK, let us look at the value of the national currency and use it to tell Peter Obi that he's talking nonsense, it will not work, because the Naira moved from around 400 and something to what it is now, 1,000, always hovering around between 1,300 and 1,500."

"What kind of business can you do? What kind of economy would you have? So that's a reason also somebody can advance that, look, you've not helped us."