Nduese Essien, a People’s Democratic Party chieftain in Akwa Ibom State and former Minister of Lands, Housing, and Urban Development, has said Bola Tinubu, the All Progressives Congress presidential candidate in the 2023 election, has nothing new to offer the country after his party failed to fulfill its promises.

He said Tinubu’s vow that his government would bring the Naira to parity with the US dollar is a simple campaign gimmick that will not fly, adding that the APC flag bearer lacks the necessary magic wand to bring the Naira to parity with the dollar.

“Tinubu made this type of promise in 2015 when campaigning for Muhammadu Buhari, and seven years later, he couldn’t teach the president how to appreciate the Naira,” Essien added.

“So why should someone who understands how the global economy works trust him?”

That’s how it began in 2014, leading to resistance to President Goodluck Jonathan on how the Naira would be at par with the US dollar if Buhari is elected”, Chief Essien said, adding that Tinubu’s assertion is unrealistic, given that if elected, he will likely follow Buhari’s economic course.

The former House of Representatives member, who chaired the National Assembly’s South South caucus from 1999 to 2003, chastised President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration, of which Tinubu is a co-traveller, for the abysmal depreciation of the Naira from 150 to the current value of 610 to the dollar.

“Why has Tinubu neglected to aid President Buhari in halting the gradual collapse of the Naira versus other foreign currencies, instead waiting till he becomes President in 2023 before intervening miraculously?” Essien inquired.

“International currencies are not manipulated in the way Bola Tinubu secretly relocated the Mobil Producing Nigeria Unlimited Headquarters to Lagos, away from its area of operations, to the detriment of the Oil Producing Areas, and has continued to maintain its maintenance there despite all protests from the rest of the country and in accordance with international best practice,” he added.

“Tinubu cannot be trusted since, as the head of the All Progressive Congress, the party has broken all of its campaign pledges, and he has nothing fresh to offer the country.”

Chief Essien urged Nigerians of voting age to take advantage of INEC’s extension on PVC registration in order to participate in the leadership recruitment process.