The main opposition party All Progressives Congress (APC) has condemned the devaluation of naira and described the development as not healthy for Nigeria’s economy.
Alhaji Lai Mohammed, the National Publicity Secretary of APC told journalists that the devaluation of currency had its consequences on the people and the economy of the country.
“When the currency is devalued, it is the worst thing that can happen to any nation,” he said.
“All it means for a country like ours, which is import dependent, is that more naira will be needed to buy raw materials and machines.
“It also means that very soon, cost of living will go up.
Mohammed said that the APC had always alarmed Federal Government (FG) about the effect of its economic strategies.
He said that the party warned government that the cost of producing oil in Nigeria was the highest and raised the alarm on prearranged theft of crude oil.
“We went further to advise the government to diversify our economy.
“We equally advised government to spend more of our resources in finding new reserves.
“We gave example that while Angola and Brazil have reinvested in new deposit to about 40 per cent, Nigeria had only invested about two per cent.
“These are all the issues that we raised.”
Nigeria’s naira moved to a record low against the dollar, a day after the central bank devalued it by 8 percent, obscuring efforts to cover inflation before presidential elections next year.
Dropping world oil prices and a retreat from emerging markets have put pressure on the currencies of several oil exporters, including Angola, where the Kwanza also hit a record low on Wednesday, as well as that of Africa’s top producer Nigeria.
In Abuja black market, the exchange rate for the dollar today, November 26, was between N182 and N186.