Special Adviser on Information and Strategy to president Bola Ahmed Tinubu, Bayo Onanuga, has warned forex speculators to dump dollars assuring that the Naira will soon appreciate.
Reacting to the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, disclosure that it had cleared the $7 billion foreign exchange backlog inherited by Governor Yemi Cardoso, Onanuga, urged speculators to quickly dump their dollars to avoid “tears”.
A statement issued on Wednesday, 20th March, by the CBN’s Acting Director of Corporate Communications, Mrs Hakama Sidi Ali, confirmed the settlement of all valid FX backlog claims.
According to the statement, the apex bank has employed Deloitte Consulting, an independent auditing firm, to carefully assess the transactions, in order to ensure that only legitimate claims were honoured.
It noted in parts; “Any invalid transactions were referred to the relevant authorities for further investigation.”
Reacting, Onanuga posted on his X handle, “With backlog FX settled, Naira is set to appreciate further, faster. Currency speculators should quickly dump their stock of dollars to avoid sorrows and tears.”
Meanwhile, the CBN’s commitment to tackling the FX backlog appears to be paying off, with the external reserves seeing a significant rise, reaching $34.11 billion as of March 7, 2024, the highest level in eight months
