...the CBN’s move would not solve the forex crisis in the country or reverse the slide of the naira.
Some Nigerians have taunted the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Governor, Godwin Emefiele, for accusing foreign exchange information platform, AbokiFX of contributing to the slide of naira against dollar at the parallel market.
Emefiele last Friday accused AbokiFX of carrying out an “illegal activity that undermines the economy,” adding that it was after Oniwinde Adedotun, the founder of the platform.
The CBN governor accused Adedotun of using the platform for “illegal forex trading”.
Later in the day, AbokiFX distanced itself from the allegations, saying the platform is solely for parallel rate information and not trading.
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The parallel market trading segment of the platform was also shut down.
Reacting, some Twitter users said the CBN’s move would not solve the forex crisis in the country or reverse the slide of the naira.
They taunted Emefiele, adding that they hope the suspension of the platform’s rate updates would push the naira to be equal to the US dollar in value soon.
Below are some reactions:
According to a former presidential candidate and political economist, Prof Pat Utomi, the devaluation of the naira was largely caused by poor policies.
Utomi told the Punch he disagreed with the decision.
He said, “As a general principle, I disagree with that approach. Of course, markets need to be regulated and have boundaries, but I think that it is too easy to blame markets when sometimes the problem might be from within.
“I think there is nobody who is knowledgeable that does not know that for a number of years, policymakers were the biggest problem with the forex market.
“Let us not deceive ourselves, the current order has ruined the forex market, so for those who made such decisions to now complain, I think it is uncharitable. If they continue to clamp down on this and that, then the market would collapse and we will return to where we were in the 1980s.”