President Tinubu Meets 36 State Governors, Others Over Hardship, Insecurity In Nigeria

President Bola Ahmed Tinubu on Thursday met with the 36 state Governors at the Aso Rock Villa in Abuja.

Though the agenda of the meeting was not made public prior to its commencement, it is believed to have a focus on the insecurity, economic situation and general hardship in the country.

The meeting also had in attendance Vice President Kashim Shettima, the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, and the Inspector General of Police, Kayode Egbetokun.

Governors of Yobe, Anambra, Akwa Ibom, Abia, Plateau, Kaduna, Sokoto, Niger, Taraba, Adamawa, Cross River, Ogun, Enugu, Ekiti, Delta, Borno, Lagos, Kwara, Nasarawa and Edo were spotted at the Council Chambers for the meeting.

Why President Tinubu Decided To Float The Naira – Presidency

The Presidency has said President Bola Tinubu decided to float the naira because the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) was spending about $1.5 billion monthly to support the naira at the official rate.

The Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, made this known during a recent interview on Arise News.

Onanuga claimed that some people close to the former CBN governor, Godwin Emefiele, and those close to some people in Muhmalmadu Buhari’s government, collected money at the official rate and sold it in the unofficial market.

He said, “Under the last administration (of the CBN), according to reports in the media, the CBN was spending about $1.5 billion every month to support the naira at the official rate, which was about N450 to a dollar or so, whereas, in the parallel market, it was going for almost double that.

“So you find a situation where some people who are close to the former governor, who were close to some people in government, were collecting money at the official rate and then doing what people call an economic crime, arbitrage, selling this money, roundtripping, selling it in the unofficial market and then making a lot of money for doing nothing. These are some of the things that the government tried to stop.”

Onanuga also said that at some point, due to the gap in the official window and the parallel market, the FDI had ‘dried up’ as people were not interested in investing in a place without stability in the exchange rate.

The presidential aide said with the floating of the naira, the gap had reduced significantly, and investments were getting secured again.