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.