Members of the Federal House of Representatives on Thursday moved to ban the use of foreign currencies in domestic transactions across the country.
The resolution was sequel to a motion sponsored by Hon. Nadu Karibe, representing Bayelsa State, who decried the ripple effects of the practice on the socioeconomic situation of the citizenry.
He argued that every country has its currency as a means of exchange, a symbol of identity, a source of pride and a sign of independence and economic stability.
“Without equivocation, the Naira is the only means of exchange for local transactions in the country,” he said.
“There is a growing trend in the use of foreign currencies, especially the US Dollar for payments of school fees, hotel bills, real estate, rent and purchase in bars, night clubs, luxury good shops, in the country. This trend has led to the high demand of these foreign currencies, especially the US dollars in Nigeria.”
Karibe maintained that the motion is not against the sale of foreign currencies but rather, against its usage in local and domestic transactions in Nigeria.
In his contribution, Warman Ogoriba recalled that he was once in South Africa and an attempt to pay his hotel bills in Dollar was rejected.
“Honestly, I was pleasantly surprised because here Nigerians freely use the Dollar,” he said. “I urge members to support the motion and the CBN to ban the use of foreign currencies in local transactions.”
On his part, Hon. Buba described the motion as very timely, saying, “In foreign lands, we are made to change Dollars into local currencies using our passport as any identification mark. But here in Nigeria, even in our shopping malls Dollars are freely used; that is wrong. It is only the high and mighty who spend Dollars the way they like.”
However, speaking against the motion, Aminu Sulayman described it as a glorified matter, as only an inconsequential number of Nigerians use the Dollar in the country.
“This matter should be left for the appropriate authioity to handle or the motion should be thrown out through the window,” he concluded.
Also in his contribution, Ali Madaki representing Kano said “if Nigeria is really serious and they want investors, we need to use Dollars. If we look at Dubai today, Dollars are openly used and just in the 1970s they came here to borrow money from us.
“They wanted to borrow $10 million but Obasanjo’s administration at the time was told the place was a desert. But look at Dubai today, is it not better than Nigeria. We need investors to grow our economy.”
Hon. Ogbuefi Ozomgbachi cautioned against the motion, saying “there is an existing Act of Parliament that forbids Nigerians from using foreign currency for marketing purposes.”
