ABCON absolves self as Naira crashes against major currencies
By Johnmark Ukoko
President of Association of Bureau De- Change Operators of Nigeria (ABCON) Alhaji Aminu Gwadabe has debunked the belief in some quarters that the country’s Bureau Operators were responsible for the sorry state of naira, against the major world currencies in the recent times.
Speaking to Gentechnews recently in Lagos, Alhaji Gwadabe said his members were not to be blamed for the continue slide of the local currency against the major currencies.
Gwadabe said his members only control less than 10 percent of the forex in circulations, adding that other stakeholders like the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), the manufacturers, the black market operators and the banks controlled the majority of the available forex in the system as such his members who controlled a minimum percentage of the forex can’t be held responsible for how the local currency is faring against the major currencies.
The ABCON boss said “We are the scapegoat, as our members are always blamed when our currency find itself in a sorry situation. When the CBN was funding the banks with 100 million dollars weekly no one complained.
“We have five players in the forex management in the country. We have the CBN, the banks, the parallel market, the manufacturers and us. Why are we always being blamed when Naira crashes against other major currencies?”
He said the amounts his members deals on is very low as such couldn’t be responsible for fixing how much naira will exchange against the major currencies, adding that ABCON members deal less than 10 percent of the total forex in the country .
Gwadabe stressed that his association members were not the black-market which some Nigerians termed ‘the Mallams’ who speculate on the amount naira is sold on a daily basis.
The ABCON boss stressed that his association is license by the apex bank and the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC), adding that as such can’t carry out any illegal activity.
“Most Nigerians put the blame on the naira situation on the Bureau-De- change (BDC) operators. We are not the black market operators. We are licenced by the Central Bank of Nigeria CBN and CAC. It is our members that have stabilize the forex market,“ he stressed.
The ABCON boss blamed the Naira sorry state on Nigerians who are in love with imported products, adding that 90 percent of the goods in our market are imported.
“It is not ABCON members that should be blamed for the sorry state of Naira. Our people buy dollars for keep. Our politicians stock pilled their houses with foreign currencies. Many of us also have dollar accounts, all these are responsible for how much naira exchange for a dollar,” Gwadabe added.
