BREAKING: Vice President #Osinbajo Endorses Peter Obi?—The Vice President, Yemi Osinbajo, of the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC, has stirred online reaction after he said Nigeria must move from consumption to production.
The statement has been read by supporters of the Labour Party presidential candidate, Peter Obi, as an endorsement of his economic plans for the country.
Obi, the former Anambra State governor, has claimed that drastic reduction in importation of goods for consumption and increase in production of tessential goods will help keep jobs in the country instead of exporting them.
He has made the theme his recurrent campaign slogan and has been promoting it, arguing that the country’s balance of trade and payment would be surplus if government policy is anchored on local manufacturing.
That has resonated with many Nigerians who see capital flight as a consequence of excessive importation and deficit trade balance.
On Friday, while speaking in Anambra State, during a national
innovation workshop organised by the Senate Committee on Science, Technology and Innovation, Osinbajo said, “Nigeria will be great only when we begin to shift our emphasis from a consuming nation. We must rely on production and that is the only way to go.”
Some Nigerians see the statement as a direct endorsement of Obi’s campaign theme.
A user of the micro logging site Twitter, Frank, latched on to the statement and said, “VP secretly endorsing obi.”
Okay. Yemi Osinbajo is now Obidient.
— JoSI (@Cosvictori) November 25, 2022
Vp secretly endorsing obi pic.twitter.com/66KrZU380c
— Frank (@Frank62493258) November 25, 2022