The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) launched a raid on the well-known Abuja Zone 4 market on Monday and started shooting at Bureau De Change operators in an attempt to stop the naira’s rapid decline, which currently stands at N1,700 to the dollar.
EFCC operatives, clad in their red vests, laid a siege at the Abuja Zone 4 complex to disperse the BDC operators from running businesses using firearms, spotlighting the desperation of the President Bola Tinubu administration to use all necessary means to salvage what’s left of the naira which has sunk into record lows.
Mr Tinubu’s strategy to float the naira has backfired and further depreciated its value on the global market, causing the prices of products to soar to more than 200 per cent.
Nigerians, who can no longer bear the hardship, staged protests across several states, including Oyo, where residents labelled Mr Tinubu “a thief” with no clue how to run his administration and lift the people out of poverty.
It is unclear how exactly the raid on BDC operators would affect the naira’s value but the EFCC agents appear convinced they had the capacity to influence the currency’s worth.
In 2021, then central bank governor, Godwin Emefiele, had threatened to arrest the owner of Aboki FX, a reliable platform that publishes the naira’s exchange rates to other currencies. Mr Emefiele falsely claimed that the website was manipulating the naira’s value and causing it to decline.
No need to use force for now. The black market should be legally outlawed. They are not governed by any rule and could increase the rate arbitrarily. However, the registered BDC should be allowed to operate with the Banks. They could be given rules on the maximum margin of profits to the so called official rate. If the BDC refuse to keep to the rule, they could also be suspended and allow the banks alone to sell dollars. Any bank that refuse to sell must be hoarding or selling to illegal sellers. In such a case such banks should be sanctioned.