You're clowns - Shettima lashes out at those celebrating naira's fall on Twitter

Nigeria's Vice President, Kashim Shettima, has lashed out at some Nigerians, who are celebrating the depreciation of the naira against the dollar.

While expressing his disappointment with this set of citizens, whom he labelled "clowns," Shettima wondered why they were excited that the nation's economy was sinking.

He said this while speaking at a function in Abuja on Wednesday, January 31, 2023.

In the video which was shared by Symfoni, the Vice President said, ‘” It is not only disheartening and disenchanting but also heartbreaking that yesterday when the Naira culminated to N1,500 to the dollar, instead of us to coagulate into a single force and salvage our nation economy, sadly, some clowns are celebrating on Twitter of an impending implosion of the Nigerian economy.”

Shettima chairs the National Economic Council (NEC), a statutory body mandated to advise the President on the nation’s economic affairs, with the Governors of the 36 states of the federation, the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, the Minister of Finance and other stakeholders as members.

However, the Federal Government came in for strong criticism on social media after the naira fell to an all-time low against the dollar on Tuesday, January 30, 2024, exchanging for almost ₦1,500 against the dollar.

The development is linked to the ongoing reforms in the financial sector, which saw the CBN float the naira in an effort to move towards market-determined interest rates.