Naira vs Dollar: 'Nigerians spending power has increased' - Ajuri Ngelale

He stated this during an interview with TVC News while reacting to questions about the performance of the Nigerian Naira currency compared to the American Dollar.

Ngelale said, "It couldn't have been perhaps two months ago. I think that is less the case now when you consider the fact that Nigerians have born witness that their spending power of Nigerians has substantially increased over the course of the last one month plus, given the reforms that has been put in place by this administration, even within the Central Bank of Nigeria.

"Nigerians are recognising that there is a level of stability. Not just strength. It's one thing to bring strength to the currency, and it's another thing entirely to bring stability to the currency. To not have it fluctuating so dramatically up and down."

However, netizens did not find his comments appealing, as many labelled them as lies and propaganda that the Tinubu administration was trying to sell to Nigerians.

An X handle, @docneto wrote, “Just one favour, make this guy go talk this one for loudspeaker for Tejuosho market make we see wetin go happen to am.”

@ugwox1 wrote, “We don’t have real men of God in Nigeria, Elijah would have taken care of this in the days of old.”

@uncleEtim wrote, “Even if it’s a lie, Purchasing power should decrease during inflation and not increase. 

“Someone should have at least told him not to say that.”

@Abdulherphyz wrote, “Ajuri Ngelale is an extremely dangerous person. How do you even say this and act like you have any credibility? What he’s saying on national TV is dangerous in itself; completely lying about the realities of ordinary Nigerians. Such a travesty.”

Meanwhile, Pulse reported earlier that the naira on Thursday slightly depreciated at the official market, trading at ₦1,402.67 to the dollar.

Data from the official trading platform of the FMDQ Exchange, a platform that oversees the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEM), showed that the naira lost ₦11.71

This represents a 0.84% loss compared to the previous trading date, Tuesday, April 30, when it exchanged at 1,390.96 to a dollar.

On a positive note, the daily turnover showed resilience, increasing to 232.84 million on Thursday, up from $225.36 million recorded on Tuesday.