Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Mr. Godwin Emiefele, has been summoned by the federal house of representatives on Thursday the over the new capital base of N35m set for Bureau De Change operators by the apex bank.
The house also directed the governor to suspend the policy, pending the outcome of its inquiry through the committee on banking and finance over reasons for the introduction of the new policy.
Emefiele is expected to meet with the committee at a session to be presided over by the chairman, Mr. Chukwudi Jones-Onyereri.
The CBN had ordered a recapitalization of BDCs in the country from N10 million to N35 million in a bid to check the growing incidence of rent-seeking, depletion of external reserves, financing of unauthorised transactions and dollarisation, among others.
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However, the order did not go down well with some BDC operators who rejected the move, saying that it is not feasible to raise such amount.
This led to debate in the house after a motion on urgent public importance moved by Mr Ibrahim Shehu-Gusau, a lawmaker from Zamfara State, to halt the implementation of the policy.
He had argued that the policy would cripple the economic wellbeing of many Nigerians employed in the informal sector, and accused the CBN of deliberately planning to compound the unemployment problems in the country by introducing the policy.
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Chairman of the house committee on education, Mr. Aminu Suleiman, observed that the policy implied that a BDC operator would require about N70m to be in business. He therefore appealed to the CBN to reverse it.
Supporting the policy, three lawmakers, Mr. Victor Nwokolo, Mr. Linus Okorie and Mr. Sunday Karibi, argued that the CBN’s target was to strengthen foreign exchange transaction, ensure greater efficiency in the management of BDCs and improve on the power of the naira against the US dollar.
However, when the speaker, Mr. Aminu Tambuwal, called for a voice vote, majority of lawmakers endorsed the motion and passed it.
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4 comments
KUDOS TO THE HOUSE OF REPS FOR THIS QUICK INTERVENTION. THIS IS HOW THE FORMER CBN GOVERNOR CAME AND REPEALED UNIVERSAL BANKING AND MANY STAFF OF BANK SUBSIDIARIES LOST THEIR JOBS. EMEFIELE CAME INTO OFFICE AND IN LESS THAN ONE MONTH ORDERED BDC TO INCREASE CAPITAL FROM N10M TO N35M AND PAY ANOTHER N35M TO CBN WITHIN 3 WEEKS . HE WENT AHEAD TO REDUCE ALLOCATION TO BDC FROM 50,000 USD TO 15,000 USD WITHOUT EVEN A MEMO WHILE MONIES PAID BY BDC FOR 50,000 USD IS STILL STUCK IN CBN AS NOW. NIGERIANS SHOULD WATCH HIM BECAUSE HE WANTS TO DISTABILISE THE EXISTING BDC STRUCTURE CAUSE UNEMLOYMENT FOR MORE THAN 5,000 BDC WORKERS AND ISSUE FRESH LICENCES TO HIS FRIENDS.
Sosoliso do you really think so? The Bureau De Change (BDC) stinks! The moneybags have already hijacked the system to warehouse their loots. Huge Nigerian currency is changed to very mobile foreign wads and stockpiled under their pillows. The sector needs to be looked into by regulating their operations through mopping of excess foreign currencies at their disposal. How about that?
It is unfortunate that the new cbn governor was not well inform as regards bdc operation in Nigeria, that is why he has never seen any thing good with that sector, even when he was in zenith Bank, but let me tell him, Nigeria problem is not bdc operation, our problem is that we are import based economy, we import every thing we use here in Nigeria i think the only thing we do not import is cassava, if he can stop importation then the demand for Dollar will take care of it self, he should know that cutting supply drugs for treatment of a particular disease without finding solution to the endemic will not solve our problem he should let our country get industrialized, and see whether there will still be much demand for Dollars in Nigeria.
I support your comment Ogbonna, the new CBN governor should look for ways in which the importation of some basic needs will be solve locally. If that is done, the presure for the demand of Dollars will be reduced.
Additionally, the CBN can adapt the use of Prepaid Debit Cards for the transfer of money bid for by the BDC’s, it will also reduce the pressure for the demand of dollars