President Bola Tinubu on Friday dismissed criticisms that the Nigerian currency had lost much of its value under his watch, boasting that the naira, at N1,300 to a dollar, was “valuable” and that Nigerians would have been buying tomatoes with wheelbarrow loads of cash if not for his policies.

Mr Tinubu, at the All Progressives Congress presidential campaign rally in Akwa Ibom, said the naira could have become completely valueless if not for his policy of unifying exchange rates.

“If we didn’t take a decision on the day I took over, we would be using wheelbarrow to move our naira because it would have been valueless,” Mr Tinubu said.

Dismissing criticisms that the naira had lost much of its value under his watch, Mr Tinubu said, “You’re talking of N1,300 to a dollar. Huh, huh, it still has pocketable value. If we had left it, it would have been a wheelbarrow when you go to the tomato market.”

Mr Tinubu announced the unification of exchange rates a few days into his administration in 2023, causing the naira to depreciate from N750 to a dollar to about N1,900 before recovering to its present value of N1,300 to a dollar.