Former Cross River state governor and presidential candidate of the Peoples Redemption Party (PRP), Donald Duke, Monday said policies Nigeria needs now is to develop natural assets while harnessing its human capital to build a productive economy capable of creating employment, and improving living standards.

“Nigerians deserve an administration strategically-designed with policies that address growth and alleviate the current crushing level of poverty,” he said.

He stated further that Nigeria needs a fundamental shift towards an economic model that would turn its vast natural and human resources into productive assets and make the livelihood of Nigerians the central objective of economic management.

“The strength of our economy will be reinforced by imaginative, strategically-designed policies that address growth,” Duke said.

The PRP candidate also rejected what he described as “pandering debates” over the economy, urging Nigerians to demand informed and growth-oriented policies capable of producing tangible improvements in their lives.

“The nation must move beyond pandering debates to adopting well-informed and growth-oriented policies,” Duke said.

He proposed a different yardstick for measuring the performance of the Nigerian economy, saying government revenue and foreign reserves should not be allowed to overshadow the economic condition of citizens.

“The yardstick of measuring the wellbeing of our economy shall not be based on the manipulated volume of our foreign reserves, but rather on employment indices and income per capita,” he said.

He was particularly critical of the government’s handling of the fuel subsidy question, arguing that the subsidy arrangement that preceded Tinubu’s administration had been replaced by what he described as a poorly managed option that benefits government finances while worsening the economic burden on citizens.