The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has explained that the statement made by Mr. Godwin Emefiele, its governor, regarding purchase of dollars with naira during the post-Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting briefing on Tuesday was directed at politicians.
Emefiele had warned bank customers against converting naira to dollars, noting that doing so is a crime that would be punished.
However, explaining the statement by Emefiele, Mr. Osita Nwanisobi, Director, Corporate Communications Department, CBN, said there were attempts by persons to deliberately misrepresent the import of the CBN boss’ caution on electioneering spending by the political class.
According to Nwanisobi who spoke at a briefing earlier today, the warning by the CBN Governor was to those who sought to convert the Naira from their accounts into foreign exchange for election campaigns and not those who seek to exchange the currency for legitimate purposes such as payment for tuition and other personal expenses.