Reps decry fall of naira

House of Representatives members

The House of Representatives on Wednesday expressed concern over continuous fall of the naira against major currencies and resolved to investigate the foreign exchange transaction process.

This was a sequel to a motion entitled “Call for Investigation of the Central Bank of Nigeria’s Forex Policies” sponsored by Rep. Ali Isa (PDP-Gombe).

Moving the motion, Isa said that in spite of the weekly releases of foreign exchange by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to the Bureau de Change (BDCs) and the banks, the value of naira had continued to depreciate.

Contributing to the debate, Rep. Mojeed Alabi (APC-Osun) expressed dismay that the CBN governor had continued to turn down invitations to him to the house to explain some of the fiscal policies to the legislators.

According to him, for failing to honour the summons of the house over the falling value of the naira, the CBN governor and his team should be sacked.

Also, Rep. Olawale Raji (APC-Lagos) decried the poor state of the naira and inconsistent fiscal policies, saying that Nigeria was the only country where “black market” figures were quoted as official.

“Who is in charge of our Forex, CBN or the black market? This is the only country in the world where the black market rates are quoted on television.

“If Nigeria were to be a normal country, the CBN governor and his team should be sacked,” he said.

However, the Minority Leader of the house, Rep. Leo Ogor, called for restraint on the issue, saying that the situation did not warrant the call for the removal of CBN governor.

He said that the legislature in conjunction with executive should find a solution to the problem.

“The only thing we do is pay lip service,” he added.

After the debate, the lawmakers resolved to set up an ad hoc committee to interact with the BDCs and other establishments that receive foreign exchange directly from the CBN to give a detailed explanation of how they utilised the funds.

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