Obi cautions Tinubu against blaming BDCs for naira’s free fall

The presidential candidate of the Labour Party in the 2023 General Election, Peter Obi, has cautioned President Bola Tinubu and government agencies against the clamp down on operations of Bureau De Change (BDCs) operators in the country.

He described this as ill-advised and wrongly directed which was capable of worsening the foreign exchange crisis in the country.

Last week, operatives of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, raided the offices of some Bureau De Change operators in Wuse Zone 4, Abuja, Lagos, Kano and Oyo States and arrested some operators after the naira crashed to about N1900 per dollar at the parallel market.

Reacting to this development in a post on X on Sunday, the former Anambra State governor said the action would worsen the country’s exchange rate situation and not alleviate the issue, stressing that BDCs are not the primary suppliers of forex.

“The recent reported attacks and disruption of the business activities of Bureaux de Change (BDCs) operators in different urban centers across the country by Government Agencies, are ill-advised and wrongly directed,” Obi said.

“Rather than solve the problem, the action will further escalate and worsen the exchange rate situation in the country.

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“The BDCs are not the primary suppliers of forex nor do they create demand. They only provide a market to sellers and buyers of foreign currency.”

He said the BDC operators are a ubiquitous presence in all economies, including the world’s most developed countries.

“To think that the BDCs are the cause of the declining value of the Naira is a smack on rational economic thinking,” he said.

“The only way to shore up the value of our currency is to move the country from consumption to production, especially export-led production, and fight corruption, which allows unproductive money to pursue the available supply of foreign currency.

“As long as Nigeria remains an unproductive economy and corruption continues unfettered with people in possession of unproductive excess cash, the value of our currency will continue to depreciate.”

According to him, it is critical that government officials appropriately comprehend how a modern economy functions and direct their efforts accordingly.

By Babajide Okeowo

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