The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has ordered that the Nigerian local currency should be the only legal tender for transactions at foreign embassies in Nigeria.
It also banned the use of dollar for business transactions and for payment of other services at the foreign missions in the country.
This was disclosed in a letter dated April 5, 2024, addressed to the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Yusuf Tuggar, and his Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
According to the anti-graft agency, the Nigerian foreign missions abroad were also asked to accept naira in their financial businesses.
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The commission noted that the directives would help in combating the dollarisation of the Nigerian economy and the depreciation of the naira.
In the letter, the EFCC Chairman, Ola Olukoyede, further expressed displeasure over the invoicing of consular services in Nigeria by foreign missions in dollars.
Olukoyede said: “I present to you the compliments of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, and wish to notify you about the commission’s observation, with dismay, regarding the unhealthy practice by some foreign missions to invoice consular services to Nigerians and other foreign nationals in the country in United States dollar.
“This practice is an aberration and unlawful as it conflicts with extant laws and financial regulations in Nigeria. Section 20(1) of the Central Bank of Nigeria Act, 2007 makes currencies issued by the apex bank the only legal tender in Nigeria.
“It states that ‘the currency notes issued by the Bank shall be the legal tender in Nigeria on their face value for the payment of any amount’.
“This presupposes that any transaction in currencies other than the naira anywhere in Nigeria contravenes the law and is, therefore, illegal.”
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