‘We’d Need Wheelbarrows to Buy Tomatoes’ – Tinubu Defends Economic Reforms

President Bola Tinubu has defended his administration’s economic policies, claiming that the naira would have become so worthless that Nigerians would need wheelbarrows to carry money to the market if his government had not intervened.

Tinubu made the remark on Friday during his visit to Akwa Ibom State, where he urged residents to support his administration and Governor Umo Eno ahead of the 2027 general election.

Describing the January 16, 2027 election as crucial to Nigeria’s future, the President said his administration had rescued the country from the brink of financial collapse.

Tinubu recalled that when he assumed office, 27 of the 36 state governors allegedly struggled to pay workers’ salaries, pensions and gratuities.

He, however, claimed that the situation had improved under his administration, insisting that Nigeria had emerged from what he described as a period of economic uncertainty.

According to him, “This coming election, on January 16th, is a consequential election. It will define the direction of this country.

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“When I took over, 27 governors out of 36 of this country were unable to pay salary, not to talk of pension and gratuity. Today, I can say that we are out of that tunnel.

“And I can beat my chest to say we are out of the despair, the dark tunnel of uncertainty and the calamity of a possible bankruptcy.

“By now, if we didn’t take over, if we didn’t do what we did, we would be using wheelbarrows to move our naira about because it would have become valueless.

“We are talking of 1,300 now to a dollar because it still has pocketable value. If we had left it, it would have been a wheelbarrow when you go to the market to buy tomatoes. That is the truth.”

The President also called on Nigerians, particularly young people, to obtain their Permanent Voter Cards, describing the PVC as their most powerful instrument for determining the country’s political future.

At a reception organised in his honour at Ibom Palm Resort, Tinubu commended Governor Eno for what he described as purposeful leadership and developmental vision.

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He praised the resort project, noting that it was developed on 73 acres of land previously affected by severe gully erosion.

Tinubu said the transformation of the degraded land into a resort surrounded by an artificial lake demonstrated what could be achieved through purposeful leadership.

“We are standing on a resort to the glory of God. It is a product of 73 acres of land of gully erosion, reclaimed, surrounded with a good, romantic, artificial lake, demonstrating a serious vision that is achievable when honest people are working for their homes,” he said.

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