Olatunbosun Oyintiloye, a chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Osun, says President Bola Tinubu’s policy on the unification of exchange rates has started yielding positive results.
Mr Oyintiloye, a former member of the defunct APC Presidential Campaign Council (PCC), said this in a chat with journalists on Sunday in Osogbo.
According to him, although the policy was painful and tough on Nigerians at the initial stage, experience of the past few weeks has shown that the policy is putting the nation’s economy on the path of recovery.
The APC chieftain said the steady appreciation of the naira against the dollar at both parallel and official markets was commendable and a huge relief to Nigerians.
He said the liberation of the foreign exchange market and the steady appreciation of the naira would attract foreign portfolio investment, unlock the huge potential for investment and restore investors’ confidence in Nigeria’s economy.
Mr Oyintiloye also commended the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) for settling “all valid” foreign exchange backlogs amounting to $7 billion, adding that “this will continue to stabilise the exchange rate.”
Mr Oyintiloye, however, appealed to Nigerians to continue to exercise patience with the president, assuring that things will continue to get better.
“In the next few months we will continue to reap the benefits of the tough economic decisions made by the president.
“This will clearly prove to us that the president meant well for Nigerians in all his economic policies.
“The way the naira is fast appreciating against the dollar and other currencies is amazing and I know we will soon be benefiting from it.
“The Renewed Hope Agenda of the president will be fulfilled and Nigerians will surely laugh last,” he said.
Mr Oyintiloye also called on Nigerians to “cut their appetite” for foreign goods to fast-track the growth of the nation’s economy.
He said Nigeria as a nation must also cut its dependence on foreign goods, increase local production and enhance entrepreneurship, noting that these would help to strengthen the naira.
“By importing, we are simply developing the economies of the countries we buy from through job creation, value chain maintenance, capacity for product development and other spin-off effects of production.
“We have to feed our population and depend less on importation to fast-track the development of our country,” Mr Oyintiloye said.
(NAN)