CBN: Emefiele Blames NNPC For Naira’s Fall

The Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN has told Nigerians to hold the NNPC responsible for the free fall of naira, the nation’s legal tender.

The national currency has continued to lose its value against other major international currencies such as the dollars and British Pound Sterling. The currency experienced its most embarrassing fall within two weeks after it lost over N60 to the dollar at the unofficial foreign exchange market. It has fallen further at the beginning of the week, exchanging for N710 to the American greenback as the US Dollars is widely known, with fears that the end to the currency’s free fall not in sight.

Vexed by the development, the Nigerian Senate has summoned the CBN Governor Godwin Emefiele to appear before it on the way forward for the floundering naira.

The CBN, however, does not want to take the blame, rather it has passed the buck to the NNPC, saying the non-remittance of dollars to foreign reserves by the government owned oil firm led to the falling exchange rate.

The CBN took the position in a report it released on Thursday, claiming that NNPC which is responsible for the nation’s forex exchange earnings has failed to remit funds, which would have beefed up the country’s foreign reserve.

The NNPC has stopped remitting funds into the federation account since February this year, saying much of its forex earnings from crude oil has been used to pay fuel subsidy.

In the CBN report titled: “The forex question in Nigeria: Fact sheet”, the apex bank disclosed that there has been zero-dollar remittance to the country’s foreign reserve by the NNPC.

The report states: “As noted by the CBN Governor, Godwin Emefiele, monetary policy alone cannot bear all the burden of the expected adjustments needed to manage these difficulties. It’s our collective duty as Nigerians to shore up the value of the naira.”

According to the apex bank, Nigeria earns foreign exchange from four sources – proceeds from oil exports; proceeds from non-oil exports; diaspora remittances, and Foreign Direct/Portfolio Investments (capital flows).

Recall that the Senate Public Accounts Committee, had in March queried the NNPC over the non-remittance of N4 trillion revenue generated in five years into the Federation Account.

“It was observed from the examination of NNPC report to the Technical Sub-Committee of Federation Account Allocation Committee meeting held in December 2016 that a cumulative total of N4 trillion was unremitted to the Federation Account by NNPC as at 31st December 2016,” the committee said in a report during its probe of NNPC.