By Leshi Adebayo
Hon. Bamidele Salam (PDP-Osun), a member of the House of Representatives, has called on the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to stop the continuous fall of the value of Naira against the dollar.
In an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Tuesday in Abuja, Salam decried the continuous devaluation of the Naira, stating that the Nigerian currency was doing badly when compared to other currencies of the world.
Statistically, a dollar was valued at N567 in the parallel market while the official price was N410 to a dollar, as at the time of filing this report.
The lawmaker stated that the CBN should do something urgent about the situation to save the players in the Nigerian economy.
“Though the value of the naira is a functionality of many things, it appears to me that there is a deliberate policy of the CBN to devalue the naira consistently.
“This is very worrisome because of its effect on trade, investment and on the consumption of goods and services both locally and those imported which depend on raw materials,” he said.
The lawmaker asked, “Are we saying that the Ghanaian economy, the Sierra Leonean economy, the Nigerian economy is doing better than the Nigerian economy? The Niger currency is doing better in the international market than the naira is in the last six months.
“Are we saying that the economy of Liberia and the economies of all these countries are doing better than that of Nigeria? Why will we continue to look on and continue to have this free fall; in the parallel market today, a dollar is over N500.”
Salam, however, said he had approached the House to urge the Apex Bank to take the urgent steps and calls for a liaison between the House Committee on Banking and Currency and the CBN on the matter.
