CLO backs CBN on BDCs, says a Senator owns 24

The Civil Liberties Organisation, CLO, has thrown its weight behind the decision of the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, to stop selling forex to Bureaux De Changes, BDCs in the country, saing most of them are owned by politicians who use their influence to get forex from the CBN. The group also alleged that a Senator owns as many as 24 of the BDCs.

This was stated in Abuja on Monday by CO President, Comrade Igho Akeregha, at a media briefing.

According to the CLO boss, majority of the BDCs operating in the country are owned by politicians, who use their influence to corner forex meant for the common good.

The CLO, who sided with the CBN policy, said those faulting the apex bank’s decision do not mean well for the economy, and are mostly politicians who are benefiting from the dollar sales to BDCs.

Read also: CBN relaxes forex policy

He said: “Go to the Corporate Affairs Commission and asked who the Directors of this BDCs are. We have it on good authority that some politicians have 10 and even 12 BDCs. A senator owns 24 BDCs. With time, we are going to mention names if they do not stop harassing those who want to rebuild this economy.”

Akeregha said the time to sit idly and do nothing is gone. “We cannot be watching people who have benefited so much from this economy wanting to continue in suffocate it. It would not be allowed. We are all Nigerians, nobody owns Nigeria more than the rest of us.”

“We are in trouble in this country if the law makers, Senators for example, would go and register BDCs and so if policies are designed to strengthen and empower the naira, they summon those who are designing the policy to come and tell them why these policies are because they want to protect their interest. They are not struggling to protect the interest of the common man.The CLO is committed to standing against that. We will no longer keep quiet. We are going to stop these characters,” he alleged.

He said there is no country in the world where the central bank give money to BDCs. These operators should source money from the autonomous market, not from the CBN.

According to him, the CBN is committed to plugging the leakages in the forex market. “We are also going to take our battles to the commercial banks because the truth really is that the CBN releases forex to the commercial banks. It is very difficult for individuals to go to the CBN to get money, most of these forex you see flying around, they source them from the commercial banks and through other sources and like you said a bank staff will put dollars in his pocket.”

“Corruption manifests in different directions and we must face them. The CLO plans to set up a permanent situation room which will engage every segments of the society. Everything that is anti-masses, we want to respond to them drastically. We can no longer sit idle and let these same characters who ran this country aground continue to enjoy. I think the party is over for them,” he said.

Continuing, Akaregha said the BDCs should be restructured to the extent of reverting to their traditional roles of selling forex to small business operators and other end users. The BDC’s have a role that they play. That is what we are asking them to go back to and not become rent collectors.

“When we say the BDCs should be restructured, it means they should revert to original role for which they were licensed to carry out. We are not saying they should be scrapped, no. But in other parts of the world where they operate, their roles are clearly and well defined, not the way they operate in Nigeria,” he said.

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