Nigerian Presidential Candidate Obi Promises to Reform Currency Market and Subsidies

If elected in February, the anti-establishment contender for Nigeria's president would overhaul the country's expensive subsidy system and unify the numerous exchange rates of the native naira currency, according to his manifesto unveiled on Sunday.

Nigeria has various exchange rates, allowing certain corporations to get dollars at a low cost while the rest of the forex purchasers pay higher rates on the black market, while the government spends billions of dollars on gasoline subsidies each year.

If elected on February 25, Labour Party candidate Peter Obi claimed he will “demand transparent reform of the foreign currency market.”

He will abolish a multiple-rate naira system that “effectively subsidizes a few privileged individuals while denying the government of desperately needed resources,” according to his platform, and “unaffordable subsidies” would be recalculated to benefit poorer residents.

The platform, which made no mention of petroleum subsidies, said that Obi would strive to progressively wean the economy off its dependency on oil by increasing agricultural production and exports and transitioning to sustainable energy while doubling the capacity of the power system to 25,000 MW within two years.

Many of Obi's supporters were active in 2020 rallies against police brutality, which culminated in security forces firing fire on defenseless protesters. He is also well-liked among younger voters.

While political observers do not anticipate the 61-year-old to win the election, they do believe he will get enough support from people dissatisfied with the mainstream governing All Progressives Congress (APC) and opposition People's Democratic Party (PDP) to play kingmaker.

Bola Tinubu, the APC candidate, and Atiku Abubakar, the PDP candidate, are both septuagenarian political veterans with considerable power bases.

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