The Independent Media and Policy Initiative, IMPI has challenged presidential candidates in the 2027 election to present Nigerians with credible economic plans capable of delivering a $1 trillion economy.
The policy group said candidates seeking to replace President Bola Tinubu should explain how their proposed policies would achieve the target, which the Federal Government has set as an economic ambition for 2030.
In a policy brief signed by its chairman, Dr Omoniyi Akinsiju, IMPI said the 2027 campaign should focus on competing economic programmes, with candidates required to provide measurable targets and clear strategies for achieving them.
“We challenge the larger political class, especially presidential candidates, to headline their manifestos with a commitment to growing Nigeria’s economy to $1 trillion over the next four years,” the group said.
IMPI said the target should not be reduced to political rhetoric, arguing that candidates should provide detailed sectoral milestones, fiscal policies, trade measures, deregulation plans and strategies for attracting domestic and foreign investment.
The group also challenged opposition parties to explain how their economic proposals would differ from, and potentially outperform, the policies of the Tinubu administration.
IMPI said candidates should identify the productive sectors they intend to reform and demonstrate how those reforms would be implemented without undermining economic measures already introduced by the current administration.
The group argued that the Tinubu administration had provided a policy framework for pursuing the $1 trillion ambition by 2030, but acknowledged that opposition parties were entitled to propose alternative approaches.
“Having officially anchored the administration’s current medium-term target around a highly realistic $1 trillion economy by 2030, the federal administration has shown clarity, execution capacity, and the momentum to scale national wealth,” IMPI said.
The think tank said opposition candidates who believe they could achieve the target faster should provide the calculations and policy measures supporting their claims, including how they would mobilise the capital required.
It said voters should scrutinise the economic programmes of all presidential candidates rather than rely on broad campaign promises or criticism of current economic difficulties.
IMPI further argued that the 2027 election should place greater emphasis on wealth creation, investment, production and employment, rather than ethnic considerations, personal grievances or criticism of economic hardship.
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“Empty rhetoric, reactionary criticisms, and weaponising short-term transitional pains will no longer suffice as a political slogan,” the group said.
It added that opposition to economic hardship alone would not be enough to win the national economic debate, urging candidates to offer what it described as a superior vision for prosperity.
