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Projects garri price to crash, Naira to sell at N500 to US dollar
A Peter Obi-led federal administration will make Nigerians smile again as it aggressively work to slash the price of staple food items by half and fire up the Naira to trade at N500 to the US dollar, according to political economist and Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC) chieftain, Professor Pat Utomi.
Utomi, who made the bold pitch ahead of the 2027 presidential race, said under the incoming government, the market price of a “painter” of garri, a crucial Nigerian staple, is projected to crash from its current N1,300 high down to about N650 while the prices of essential commodities will also reduce drastically nationwide.
Unveiling the opposition party’s new radical economic blueprint, which laid out a vision designed to jolt a struggling populace out of soaring inflation and deepening poverty, Utomi also assured that the ambitious exchange rate target is the anchor of a broader economic agenda focused on crushing skyrocketing inflation, lifting millions out of poverty, and restoring consumer purchasing power
He further explained that the currency stabilization strategy will not run in isolation as the NDC plans to trigger market competitiveness by pairing these exchange rate policies with aggressive structural reforms and heavy investments in national security, electricity, and road infrastructure.
The NDC chieftain wrote in a post on his X account that strengthening the Naira from about N1,350 to N500 per dollar would help lower the cost of living, adding that all the projected measures would significantly reduce the prices of food items and other essential commodities.
Utomi, who insisted that economic blueprint is more than just campaign rhetoric, estimated that a loaf of sliced bread currently selling for N1,750 could fall to about N800, while the price of a 50kg bag of imported rice could also drop to about N27,500 from the current price of N55,000
Additionally, he projected that a medium-sized tuber of yam would decline from N2,400 to N1,200; a 50kg bag of maize could fall from N75,000 to N37,500; a bunch of plantain could drop from N2,500 to N1,250, while the price of a whole chicken could reduce from N7,000 to about N3,500.
Backing up the headline-grabbing promise of immediate relief for inflation-weary citizens, Utomi also projected that a dozen eggs would cost N1,150, down from between the current N3,300 and 6000, just as he also listed petrol and cement among the commodities expected to become cheaper under the proposed economic programme.
Offering further insights to the party’s exchange rate target, Utomi said: “We are convinced that targeting a strategic appreciation of the exchange rate by reasonably strengthening it from ₦1,350/$ to ₦500/$ as part of our manifesto is a winning strategy”, adding: “It offers a direct, multi-faceted approach to curbing inflation, reducing poverty, and lowering the cost of living.”
The NDC stalwart said the proposal reflected the party’s intention to improve living conditions, particularly for Nigerians facing multidimensional poverty, adding: “It clearly demonstrates our concrete plan to uplift the 140 million Nigerians currently experiencing multi-dimensional poverty.”
However, amid talks of currency devaluation, the Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Taiwo Oyedele and other government officials have consistently argued that the Naira was not intentionally “devalued” via a decree, but rather depreciated because the government stopped burning through foreign reserves to defend an artificial, unsustainable rate.
It is on record the Naira took a significant jolt in 2023 after the Tinubu-led administration introduced reforms that unified the exchange rate windows and allowed market forces to play a greater role in determining the Naira value.
Meanwhile, as of Friday, October 30, the Naira traded at N1,346.86 per dollar at the official Nigerian Foreign Exchange Market, while in the parallel market, the dollar exchanged for about N1,385
