By Okoi Obono-Obla
The Holy Book says, “Out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaketh.” But politicians, in their politicking — scheming and fighting to outplay, outshine and undo one another like an army going into battle — will employ crude methods, tactics and strategies to gain advantage and triumph on the battlefield.
Politics, according to the Prussian military theorist Carl von Clausewitz, is war by other means. Indeed, his famous dictum is that war is the continuation of politics by other means. Therefore, politicians employ the same tactics that military generals use against enemy combatants to gain territory and win battles. No matter how principled a politician pretends to be, when the chips are down and push comes to shove, he will behave true to type.
But today, one of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s most vehement opponents has openly reversed himself.
As of May 2026, the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC) has screened and cleared Peter Obi as its presidential aspirant ahead of the 2027 general elections, after he formally joined the party alongside Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso.
Peter Obi, now presidential candidate of the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC) for the 2027 election, says he will retain the free-floating exchange rate policy of the Bola Tinubu administration if elected president.
A free-floating exchange rate occurs when a government allows the exchange rate to be determined purely by market forces, without the central bank intervening to influence the external value of the currency.
It took Peter Obi almost three years to recognize a good policy. I give him kudos for admitting a truth which has been very obvious.
A new dimension has now been introduced into the current electioneering campaign. As Peter Obi and President Tinubu are now on the same page as far as the floating of the Naira is concerned, we can move the debate to another level.
In conclusion, Obi’s admission is a tacit vindication of President Tinubu’s difficult but necessary reforms. It proves that the Naira float was never a partisan issue, but a national economic imperative. With both leading contenders now aligned on this fundamental policy, Nigerians can be confident that the era of multiple exchange rates and forex round-tripping is over for good, regardless of who wins in 2027.
