Senior economist at SPM Professionals, Paul Alaje, has urged Nigerians to vote for presidential candidates in the 2027 general election based on their ability to improve purchasing power, reduce the cost of living and make essential services more affordable.
Alaje said voters should focus on candidates with economic policies capable of improving the real value of their earnings rather than being influenced by promises of higher salaries without a corresponding reduction in living costs.
He made the remarks during an appearance on Channels Television’s Sunday Politics, where he discussed the economic issues Nigerians should consider when choosing their next president.
According to the economist, the most important consideration should be whether a candidate’s policies would enable Nigerians to afford basic necessities, including food, housing, education and healthcare.
“Any candidate who is telling you that the money in your pocket will buy more, will improve more, and will afford your rent — that is the candidate you should vote for,” Alaje said.
He explained that an increase in salaries and wages would not necessarily improve people’s living standards if the prices of goods and services continued to rise faster than their incomes.
Alaje noted that although workers and labour unions could demand higher wages, the real benefit would depend on whether those earnings could purchase more goods and services.
“You can earn more in naira terms. Like labour wants more money, you can. But will it buy more in real terms?” he asked.
He therefore advised Nigerians to carefully examine the economic programmes of presidential candidates and determine how their policies would address the financial pressures facing households.
The economist stressed that candidates should be assessed based on their plans to make education and healthcare more affordable, reduce the burden of living expenses and improve Nigerians’ overall welfare.
He maintained that the ability to strengthen purchasing power should be a major factor guiding voters’ decisions ahead of the 2027 presidential election.
Alaje Warns Against Neglecting Productivity
Alaje also warned that economic policies that fail to prioritise productivity could weaken Nigeria’s economic performance and prevent the country from achieving sustainable growth.
He argued that improving productivity was essential to ensuring that economic reforms translated into better living conditions for citizens.
“Anybody who is not discussing productivity is going to run the economy down,” he said.
According to him, Nigeria must strengthen the fundamental conditions that support economic growth if ongoing reforms are to deliver lasting benefits.
He explained that reforms alone might not produce the desired results without improvements in productivity and other critical areas of the economy.
Economist Urges Tinubu to Address Electricity Challenges
The economist also called on President Bola Tinubu to urgently address Nigeria’s electricity problems, describing reliable power supply as a key requirement for improving economic performance.
Alaje said the government needed to take decisive action to resolve the country’s persistent electricity challenges.
“You need to do something urgent and critical about electricity,” he told the President.
He explained that stable electricity was important for businesses, industrial development and the broader economy, adding that Nigeria needed to address fundamental economic challenges to achieve meaningful results from its reform programmes.
Alaje further observed that countries that had successfully implemented reforms similar to those being pursued in Nigeria had strong economic foundations that supported their progress.
“Major economies that adopted the kind of reforms we are adopting and have results, they have fundamentals working for them,” he said.
He maintained that Nigeria must strengthen its economic fundamentals, improve productivity and tackle electricity challenges to ensure that reforms translate into increased purchasing power and a better standard of living for citizens.
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