Chuks Okocha in Abuja
Presidential candidate of the Labour Party in the 2023 general election, Peter Obi, yesterday, advised the federal government that the clampdown on Bureau De change operators would worsen the foreign exchange crisis in Nigeria.
He added that the clampdown was ill-advised and wrongly directed.
Last week, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and some security agencies raided some spots where the Bureau De change operators in Abuja and other parts of the country operated.
Obi, who took to his verified X account warned that the action would worsen the country’s exchange rate situation and not alleviate the issue.
He said the Bureau De change operators were not the primary suppliers of declining value of the Naira.
According to the former governor of Anambra State, “The recent reported attacks and disruption of the business activities of Bureaux de Change (BDCs) operators in different urban centers across the country by government agencies are ill-advised and wrongly directed.
“Rather than solve the problem, the action will further escalate and worsen the exchange rate situation in the country.
“The BDCs are not the primary suppliers of forex nor do they create demand. They only provide a market to sellers and buyers of foreign currency.”
Obi explained that the Bureau De change operators are visibly present in all economies, including the world’s most developed countries.
According to him, “To think that the BDCs are the cause of the declining value of the Naira is a smack on rational economic thinking.
“The only way to shore up the value of our currency is to move the country from consumption to production, especially export-led production, and fight corruption, which allows unproductive money to pursue the available supply of foreign currency.
“As long as Nigeria remains an unproductive economy and corruption continues unfettered with people in possession of unproductive excess cash, the value of our currency will continue to depreciate.”
The Labour party presidential candidate, therefore, said it is critical that government officials appropriately comprehend how a modern economy functions and direct their efforts accordingly.
