CBN alleged FX racket, handwork of political jobbers, faceless investors seeking cheaper Naira assets 

The Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN has said that a news report by some faceless hacks should be ignored by Nigerians as there is no iota of truth in it. The report by faceless agents said that some persons are benefiting from the current foreign exchange arrangement pocketing over N32 billion annually in profit from the foreign exchange arbitrage with the aid of CBN officials.

A CBN official who spoke to Businessnewsreport said that the report is the handwork of political jobbers who can not muster the courage to face the Nigerian public but rely on distorting facts to misinform the public. The official further said that some of them in collaboration with foreign investors who want the Naira to be grossly undervalued so they can pick Nigeria assets at a give away price are behind the baseless accusation. 

However, the regulator in a statement signed by its Director, Corporate Communications, Isaac Okoroafor, in very strong terms described the report as “unfounded and untrue and challenges the newspaper to provide the names and also verifiable evidence of collusion between these faceless agents and officials of the CBN, who are working to perpetuate these so called foreign exchange racket schemes.”

The full text of the statement reads: “The CBN has been alerted on the front page headline story in Businessday on Monday, February 4, 2019 titled, “Exposed The Sleazy Face of N306/$, inside Nigeria’s racket where faceless agents pocket over N32bn annually”. The management of the CBN wishes to react to the report wherein Businessday newspapers alleges that faceless agents in Nigeria are exploiting the country’s multiple exchange rate to devastating effects and allegedly with the backing of regulators. 

The CBN wishes to state unequivocally that this report is unfounded and untrue and challenges Business Day to provide the names and also verifiable evidence of collusion between these faceless agents and officials of the CBN, who are working to perpetuate these so called Fx racket schemes. We would also urge the management of Business Day to contact the CBN prior to making such spurious allegations, as we were denied the benefit of responding to this article.

The CBN wishes to remind Business Day as most financial observers have noted, that the Fx rates across various markets governed and regulated by the CBN, have been converging, leaving no room for arbitrage opportunities in Nigeria’s Fx market. For avoidance of doubt, the CBN will continue to act in the best interest of Nigeria and shall ensure it remains focused on its core mandate of sustaining the stability in the FX market.”