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The Nigerian Government Sunday debunked claims that President Muhammadu Buhari promised he would make the naira have an equal value with the dollar.
The claim is often repeated by the critics of the Buhari government to drive home arguments about him not fulfilling his campaign promises.
According to publications by The Cable and Vanguard, Buhari the claim during a campaign rally on Monday, March 23, 2015, at the Dan Anyiam Stadium, Owerri.
The stories published by The Cable and Vanguard show the government-owned News Agency of Nigerian as the originator.
“It is sad that the value of the naira has dropped to more than N230 to one dollar. This does not speak well for the nation’s economy,” Buhari said, according to the stories published by the news websites.
The story did not appear in NAN’s database when The Guardian checked on Monday. Apart from the title suggesting President Buhari promised to make N1 equal to $1, there is nothing in the story credited to NAN to indicate Buhari actually made the claim.
Moreover, records show that the government has been trying to debunk the claims that Buhari made such promise in 2015.
Speaking on ChannelsTV Sunday Politics on Sunday, Buhari’s spokesman Femi Adesina doubled down on past disclaimers issued by the government concerning the claim.
Adesina said the claims that Buhari made such a promise where false.
“It does not exist, it is fake, it is false, it is apocryphal, it doesn’t exist,” Adesina said.
Adesina further stated that the minister of information, Lai Mohammed has debunked the claim severally and challenged anyone with clips and publications to make them available.
He said Nigerians must stop dwelling solely on the negatives if the country is to forge ahead in the progressive path.
Adesina said there are silver linings in the sky.
He stated that it is typical of Nigeria that when the break in the clouds comes, no one talks about them.
The value of the dollar has continued to rise against naira in recent times. $1 currently sells officially for N380 and N480 in black market.
