Presidential candidate of Labour Party (LP) in the 2023 general elections, Peter Obi, yesterday, advised federal agencies against arresting Bureau de Change operators, noting that they are not responsible for the free fall of the Naira.
The former governor of Anambra State, in an X handle post, circulated by the spokesman of Obi-Datti Campaign Committee, Tanko Yinusa, said the clampdown was primitive and showed “poor understanding” of the nation’s problems by the current administration.
His words: “The recent reported attack and disruption of business activities of Bureau de Change (BDC) operators in different urban centres across the country by government agencies are ill-advised and wrongly directed.
“Rather than solve the problem, the action will further escalate and worsen the exchange rate situation in the country.
“The BDCs are neither the primary suppliers of forex nor do they create demand. They only provide a market to sellers and buyers of foreign currencies. They are part and parcel of every economy, and can be found even in the developed economies of the world.
“To think that the BDCs are the cause of the declining value of the Naira smacks of a lack of rational economic thinking.
“The only way to shore up the value of our currency is to move the country from consumption to production, especially export-led production, and fight corruption, which allows unproductive money to pursue the available supply of foreign currencies.
“As long as Nigeria remains an unproductive economy and corruption continues unfettered with people in possession of unproductive excess cash, the value of our currency will continue to depreciate.
“It’s important, therefore, that government authorities properly understand the workings of a modern economy and channel their efforts accordingly, and stop ridiculing the nation in the eyes of global economies.”
