Unwise raid on BDCs: Peter Obi Calls Out Tinubu Government

 The Labour Party's 2023 presidential candidate, Peter Obi, believes it was a bad idea for the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to raid Bureau De Change operators in several major Nigerian cities.

On Sunday, Obi revealed this in a statement posted on his official X account.

The DAILY POST remembers that EFCC agents raided BDC operators in the Federal Capital Territory, Lagos, Kano, and other states in an attempt to save the Naira from ongoing swings against the US currency.

Peter Obi, however, responded to the news by stating that the government of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu might have made matters worse for the nation's foreign exchange crisis.

He declared that the value of Nigeria's currency will keep declining as long as the nation's economy is unproductive and corrupted.

In his words: “The recent reported attacks and disruption of the business activities of Bureaux 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 not the primary suppliers of forex, nor do they create demand. They only provide a market to sellers and buyers of foreign currency.

“As long as Nigeria remains an unproductive economy and corruption continues unfettered with people possessing 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.”

As DAILY POST previously reported, at the end of business on Friday, the Central Bank of Nigeria released draft guidelines for a comprehensive policy intervention for BDCs that included a ban on street trading and a new per capita share requirement for registration. The data also showed that at the end of business on Thursday, the Naira was worth N1,665.50 per US dollar, down from N1571.31.