EFCC bans dollar, orders naira transactions at embassies

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has placed a ban on dollar transactions at foreign embassies in Nigeria.

The EFCC, however, directed the foreign missions in the country to use naira in their financial businesses.

The anti-graft agency gave the directive via an advisory to the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Yusuf Tuggar.

The commission also directed Nigerian foreign missions abroad to accept naira in their financial businesses.

The EFCC noted that the directives would help to tackle the dollarisation of the Nigerian economy and the depreciation of the naira.

In a letter dated April 5, 2024, which was addressed to the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the EFCC Chairman, Ola Olukoyede, further expressed dismay over the invoicing of consular services in Nigeria by foreign missions in dollars.

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Olukoyede noted: “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.”

The EFCC,  according to Punch, added that the refusal by some missions to accept the naira for consular service in Nigeria and also comply with the foreign exchange regulatory regime in fixing the exchange of the cost of their services is not only illegal but represents an affront to the country’s sovereignty symbolised by the national currency.

The anti-graft commission further stated that such a situation undermines Nigeria’s monetary policy and aspiration for sustainable economic development.

The Star