TRUST DIALOGUE: Bullion vans carry money from gov’t houses to BDCs – ex-Deputy Gov

Professor Hafiz Abubakar, former deputy governor of Kano State, has spoken on the rot in the economy, narrating how bullion vans go to government houses to carry money to bureau de change in broad daylight.

Abubakar stated this during the 21st Daily Trust Dialogue held on Thursday at NAF Conference Centre in Abuja.
The event was themed “Tinubu’s Economic Reforms: Gainers and losers”.

Daily Trust reports that Nigeria is battling with its worst naira depreciation crisis with the local currency exchanging at N1,400 to a dollar at the parallel market as of Thursday January 25, 2024.

There has been an alleged arbitrage in the foreign exchange market with the Bureau De Change (BDC) operators allegedly at the centre of the trade.

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Our correspondent reports that the parallel market is the most important market for foreign exchange transactions.

Speaking at the Daily Trust Dialogue, Hafiz Abubakar urged The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to provide a system that will sanitize the unwholesome practice in forex transactions, saying the practice involves a very big risk for the country.

He said, “When I was a student in the 1980s in the United Kingdom, I was fully aware that there was a cap on cash transactions you can hold with bureau de change. Regrettably in our country, it is open.

“The Central Bank of Nigeria has no figures of what is going on in our BDCs. And I am sure they are fully aware of the very great risk. In civilized societies, there are caps for cash transactions in any bureau de change, but in our country it is limitless.

“And there is no system that keeps record of the transactions for our Central Bank to know what is happening there. To me, that is a very big risk. It is part of what is fueling corruption in this country. Bullion vans go to some government houses to carry money to BDCs in the daylight. I wonder why we don’t have a system that can make sure transactions are carried through the banks legitimately.”