Currency speculators to lose out as Naira appreciates – Onanuga

Special Adviser to President Tinubu, Bayo Onanuga, has advised currency speculators to drop their dollar holdings as Nigerian currency, the Naira, will soon begin to appreciate. Onanuga gave his advice in a post on X while responding to the news that the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) had cleared the backlog of about $7 billion foreign exchange debts.  He advised the speculators to “quickly dump their dollars to avoid “tears.” Onanuga said “with backlog FX settled, Naira is set to appreciate further, faster. Currency speculators should quickly dump their stock of dollars to avoid sorrows and tears.”

The CBN had said on Wednesday that it had settled all valid foreign exchange debts accumulated under Governor Godwin Emefiele. Hakama Sidi-Ali, the CBN Acting Director of Corporate Communications, said the apex bank had cleared the backlogs with the payment of $1.5 billion. She described the development as a decisive step towards restoring confidence in Nigeria’s economy. Sidi-Ali said the process underwent meticulous scrutiny by independent auditors from Deloitte Consulting, ensuring that only legitimate claims were honoured. Any questionable transactions were promptly referred for further investigation, she said.