2023: Moghalu Reveals What A Tinubu, Atiku Or Obi Presidency Means For Nigeria’s Economy

Former Deputy Governor of Nigeria’s Central Bank, Kingsley Moghalu, has shared his analysis of what direction the country’s economy will take if any of the leading presidential aspirants — Bola Tinubu, Atiku Abubakar and Peter Obi — should emerge president in 2023.

Moghalu, a political economist and former presidential aspirant, said the three aspirants through their manifestos and expressed thoughts have given different insights into the “philosophical direction” they intend to take the country’s economy if any of them emerges president.

Tinubu, 70, is a two-time former governor of Lagos State and the presidential candidate of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).

75-year-old Atiku who was vice president for eight years from 1999–2007 is the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) presidential candidate while Obi, 61, is a two-time former Anambra State Governor and the flagbearer of the Labour Party.

Moghalu, while speaking on Channels TV’s ‘Sunday Politics’ monitored by THE WHISTLER, shared his thoughts on what he thinks the plans of the individual candidates are.

“I see the manifesto of Atiku. I see the manifesto of Tinubu, I see Peter Obi’s own thoughts and I can distill as follows:

“Atiku believes a lot in the market as the mechanism to which the economy should flow.

“Tinubu on the other hand, so this debate is already beginning…Tinubu on the other hand believes a lot in the responsibility and the power of the state.

“Peter Obi is somewhere in between. Peter believes in the market, but Peter believes a lot in small businesses. Do you see what I’m saying? So already it is becoming clear where the philosophical leanings of these major candidates are.”

The professor of International Business and Public Policy, however, noted that irrespective of who emerges as president of the country, such a person may face challenges due to the peculiarity of the challenges facing Nigeria.

“Here is the challenge that they all face. In China, South Korea, and Brazil, hundreds of millions of human beings have been moved from poverty to prosperity by market mechanisms, that is to say, the market or sort of managed capitalism.

“They moved away from socialism and began to operate their economy as a more or less free-market economy. And this was able to lift a lot of citizens (out of) poverty.

“But there is a problem. The market is not perfect and even in most capitalist countries like America, we see the states involved.

“So, Tinubu on his own hand is looking at that model. But what’s the point? In Nigeria, we don’t have a capable state to drive service delivery, and economy, so that’s the truth. It is in between.”

Moghalu recommended that what Nigeria needs is a president who must first “lead the building of an elite consensus on the development of Nigeria, focusing mostly on poverty, not just economic growth, which is just numbers.”

He noted that “100 million Nigerians are living in extreme poverty. What do we do about it? What is required is the political will, the political consensus among the elite, that this country, if it goes up in flames, our wealth is not safe, therefore let’s do everything we can, let’s make sacrifices for the greater good rather than just pursuing our own narrow interest. The President should leave this conversation.”

Continuing, the economist said: “The second thing the president should do is that the president must set out in some clarity a philosophical direction of the economy.”