The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP)’s presidential candidate for the 2023 elections, Atiku Abubakar, on Sunday expressed his preference for a more measured approach to foreign exchange management by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN). In a post on X, Atiku shared his vision for economic revitalization, referencing a recent meeting with President Bola Tinubu.
Atiku pointed out that, had he been elected president, he would have advocated for the CBN to adopt “a gradualist approach to FX management” to prevent the naira’s rapid depreciation against the dollar. He remarked, “Given Nigeria’s underlying economic conditions, adopting a floating exchange rate system would be an overkill.”
He further explained his support for a “managed-floating system,” where, “the Naira may fluctuate daily, but the CBN will step in to control and stabilize its value. Such control will be exercised judiciously and responsibly, especially to curve speculative activities.”
Highlighting the challenges faced by Nigeria after consolidating its exchange rates into a single system last June—an effort aimed at encouraging foreign investment and allowing the naira to float freely—Atiku noted the negative impact on individuals and businesses, with some multinational companies exiting the Nigerian market due to significant foreign exchange losses.
Atiku criticized President Tinubu for not presenting clear policy directions to address currency market volatility and Nigeria’s deep-rooted poverty. He emphasized that, under his presidency, he would have guided the CBN to periodically intervene in the foreign exchange market to stabilize the naira, citing Nigeria’s insufficient and unstable foreign reserves as a limitation for a fully free-floating regime.
“Atiku, who served as Nigeria’s vice president from 1999 to 2007, said, “Nigeria’s reserves did not have enough foreign exchange that can be sold freely at fair market prices during crises.”
He also pointed to Nigeria’s struggle to attract significant foreign investment and to increase oil revenue due to declining production as reasons for preferring a “controlled” exchange system. Atiku critiqued the current administration’s hasty foreign exchange policy changes, suggesting they were implemented without adequate planning or stakeholder consultation, failing to mitigate or foresee their adverse effects.