Foreign missions violating dollar transaction guidelines –EFCC

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has accused some third-party agents working for foreign missions of circumventing transaction regulation by invoicing in dollars.

Wilson Uwujaren, Director of Public Affairs of the commission stated this during an interview on Channel TV’s Politics Today.

On Saturday, EFCC read the riot act to foreign missions based in Nigeria, banning them from transacting in foreign currencies, and mandating the use of the naira in their financial businesses.

During the interview with Channels on Monday, Uwujaren said that naira is the only legal tender in Nigeria, saying the commission had informed Foreign Affairs Ministry on the development.

He said, “Section 20 sub section 1 of the EFCC Act says that naira is the only legal tender in Nigeria; meaning that is the only currency that is acceptable for transactions anywhere across the country.

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“We found situations that third-party working for missions circumvent that regulation by invoicing in dollars. A number of them go to the extreme of determining the exchange value of naira in their transactions.

“This is worrisome to us. So we have to bring this to the Foreign Affairs Ministry. The government has the responsibility to rule the protocol and channel of communication to bring this observation to the attention of the foreign mission to advise them to ensure that their activities do not go against our laws.”