Senator representing Borno South senatorial district, Ali Ndume, has asked the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Dr Yemi Cardoso, to concentrate on strengthening the naira.
The senator said Cardoso’s top priority should be to make Nigeria’s currency strong, rather than relocating the CBN to Lagos.
Ndume said this in an exclusive interview with the Daily Trust Saturday.
He said this in reaction to the plans of the Federal Government to relocate some units of the apex bank from Abuja to Lagos.
Recall that the FG announced that some of offices of the CBN and that of the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) would be moved to Lagos.
Reacting, Ndume said, “The CBN is supposed to concentrate on policies that are more important to Nigeria now. Under this CBN governor, dollar has gone up to N1,350 as at today; when he came in, it was not up to that, it was around N1,000 or less.
“What I want him (Cardoso) to do, or what Nigerians are expecting him, is to concentrate on how to bring the value of the naira up to what Mr President called one exchange rate. That is important.
“The primary responsibility of the CBN is not commercial; it is not a profit making agency. So, that’s not an excuse. This decision would have to be weighed seriously. I am sure the president will look into it. I am very confident that we will reverse this unpopular decision.”
Earlier this week, the senator also said that some ‘Lagos Boys’ have been misleading President Bola Tinubu to relocate CBN and FAAN units to Lagos.(Daily Trust)
