Members of the House of Representatives
were angry on Wednesday as they ordered an investigation into the
scarcity of foreign exchange in the country.
The naira, which exchanged for N490 to
the United States dollar last Thursday on the parallel market, was
offered at N475 per dollar on Wednesday, amid biting scarcity of hard
currencies.
The House observed that in spite of
weekly reports by the Central Bank of Nigeria that it released hard
currencies to Bureau De Change operators and commercial banks, “the
value of the naira against the dollar and the pound sterling continues
to depreciate, further worsening the economic conditions in the
country.”
The motion was moved by a member from Gombe State, Mr. Ali Isa-JC.
A member from Osun State, Prof. Mojeed Alabi, called for the immediate sacking of the Governor of the CBN, Mr. Godwin Emefiele.
He argued that the apex bank’s forex policies seemed to continue to worsen the situation rather than serve as a solution.
He advised President Muhammadu Buhari to
seek a replacement for Emefiele for his inability to arrest the rapid
drop in the value of the naira.
A similar call for Emefiele’s sacking was made by a member from Lagos State, Mr. Raji Olawale.
Both lawmakers are members of the All Progressives Congress.
They said the CBN claimed that it issued
forex to banks and the BDCs weekly at the rate of N179 to $1 to
“mitigate or shore up” the local currency but this was not working.
The House resolved among others to
direct the CBN to produce the list of establishments that had received
forex at subsidised rates since 2015.
The development came as the House
summoned the Minister of Mines and Steel Development, Dr. Kayode Fayemi;
Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Mr. Babatunde Fashola; and the
Minister of Transportation, Mr. Rotimi Amaechi, over alleged “outrageous
taxes and duties imposed on steel product manufacturers and service
providers” in the country.
Also summoned is the Comptroller-General of the Nigeria Customs Service, Col. Hamid Ali (retd).
Acting on a motion moved by Mr. Terse
Mark-Gbillah, the House resolved to investigate the lack of patronage of
Nigerian companies in the provision of steel products and services.
The House said there were reports of the
NCS imposing duties and taxes of up to 40 per cent on imported raw
materials for steel production.
It noted that this was negatively affecting the operations of end-users in the “power, oil and gas, railways and other sectors.”
The House added, “The lack of patronage
of local companies and products is a clear violation of Nigeria’s Oil
and Gas Industry Content Development Act, 2010.”
Source:The Punch
EmoticonEmoticon