Photo credit: ChatGPT AI image Claim: President Bola Ahmed Tinubu claimed that when he assumed office in 2023, the exchange rate was ₦1,900 to the U.S. dollar, but it has now appreciated to ₦1,350–₦1,450, showing signs of stabilisation. Verdict: President Tinubu’s assertion that the exchange rate was ₦1,900 to the dollar when he took office
Photo credit: ChatGPT AI image
Claim: President Bola Ahmed Tinubu claimed that when he assumed office in 2023, the exchange rate was ₦1,900 to the U.S. dollar, but it has now appreciated to ₦1,350–₦1,450, showing signs of stabilisation.
Verdict: President Tinubu’s assertion that the exchange rate was ₦1,900 to the dollar when he took office in May 2023 is Misleading.
Full Text
On September 2, 2025, during a solidarity visit from members of The Buhari Organisation led by former Governor of Nasarawa State, Senator Tanko Al-Makura, at the Presidential Villa in Abuja, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu made a statement on Nigeria’s exchange rate.
He asserted that the exchange rate was ₦1,900 to the dollar when he took office in May 2023 but had since appreciated to between ₦1,350 and ₦1,450, which he described as evidence of stabilisation. The President further cited Nigeria’s growing non-oil revenues as a buffer against external shocks and highlighted that the country had already met its 2025 revenue target by August. He linked these developments to an improved fiscal position and claimed that his administration’s policy of unifying exchange rates had strengthened the naira.
Before President Tinubu assumed office, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) had announced the unification of all segments of the foreign exchange market, merging the multiple windows into a single system. Previously, Nigeria operated different exchange rate windows under a fixed-rate regime. With the policy shift, however, the exchange rate began to be determined through the Investors and Exporters (I&E) window, which now serves as the official platform for forex transactions.
The value of the naira is one of the most important indicators of Nigeria’s economic health, directly affecting the prices of goods, the cost of living, and citizens’ purchasing power. When a sitting President makes a public statement on the exchange rate, it carries significant weight in shaping public perception of the economy. Therefore, Ndrfactcheckhub carried out a check to clarify the true position of the exchange rate at the time Tinubu assumed office in May 2023 and to place his claims in the context of Nigeria’s ongoing forex challenges.
Verification
Claim 1: Was the exchange rate ₦1,900 to the dollar before President Tinubu assumed office?
Our researcher conducted a keyword search on Google. Reports released by The Radar and Statista show that under President Buhari, the naira-to-dollar exchange rate increased from ₦197 to ₦461.6. Meanwhile, Nairametrics reported that in the parallel market, the naira traded at an average of ₦772/$1.
Claim 2: Has the exchange rate appreciated to ₦1,350–₦1,450 under President Tinubu’s tenure?
Data indicate that during President Tinubu’s administration, the naira experienced the steepest depreciation in Nigeria’s history. The exchange rate rose from ₦461.6 to ₦1,575.69.
To substantiate this, we reviewed the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) website. The official Nigeria Foreign Exchange Market (NFEM) rate as of September 2, 2025, the date this fact-check was filed, was ₦1,526.0565/$1.
Conclusion
President Tinubu’s assertion that the exchange rate was ₦1,900 to the dollar when he took office in May 2023 is misleading. Official CBN data shows the exchange rate stood at around ₦464.50/$1 in the Investors & Exporters window at the time, while the parallel market averaged ₦750–₦770/$1. The naira only crossed ₦1,000/$1 later, after his administration’s reforms. Therefore, his claim on naira stabilisation figures is misleading.
