End double exchange rates, fuel subsidy regime, Lagos traditional ruler urges Tinubu

The traditional ruler of the Otumara community in Lagos Mainland Local Government area of Lagos State, High Chief Kehinde Kalejaiye has advised President Bola Tinubu to implement his renewed hope promises to Nigerians.

Kalejaiye during a chat with Sunday Tribune on Saturday urged Tinubu to address the hardship Nigerians are currently facing at the dawn of his administration.

He appealed to the president to end the multiple foreign exchange rates and fuel subsidy regime, which according to him, are the cause of the hardship and poverty Nigerians are suffering.

Meanwhile, in his inaugural speech on May 29, President Bola Tinubu admitted that the country’s monetary policy needs thorough housecleaning while charging the Central Bank of Nigeria to work towards a unified exchange rate.

He observed that this will direct funds away from arbitrage into meaningful investment in the plant, equipment and jobs that power the real economy.

Speaking on the challenges confronting Nigerians, he said, “This is to remind President Bola Tinubu of his promises of renewed hope to Nigerians.

As a matter of urgency, I want the President to address the dual foreign exchange rates system in operation in the country because it is partly responsible for the hardship Nigerians are suffering today.

Nigerians are groaning under uncontrollable prices of commodities and exchange rates. This is why President Tinubu must treat it as a matter of urgent importance.

I could recall, during former President Goodluck Jonathan’s era, the exchange rate was N195 to a dollar at the official market rate but today, officially, N461.25 to a dollar.

More troubling is the rate at which the dollar is sold at the black market rate. The Bureau De Change operators sell between N755 and N760 as against the official rate.

They are the architects of hardship and inflation bedevilling the country. I am appealing to the president to instruct the CBN to harmonise the dual exchange rate system and instruct the ICPC, EFCC and the police to embark on the monitoring of the activities of these Bureau De Change operators to ensure a uniform exchange rate or at least maintain a difference of less than N20.

The excess profits of the Bureau De Change are the cause of the hardship of Nigerians. The president needs to harmonise the exchange rate both at the official and the parallel market.

We have travelled far and near and we have seen how the foreign exchange market operates. Even in Dubai, they operate a uniform exchange rate, why is ours different?”

He disclosed that maintaining a single exchange rate will check the ‘Japa’ and the brain drain syndrome that currently ravages the country.

He continued, “The ‘Japa’ and the brain drain syndrome that have afflicted Nigerians are due to the foreign exchange rate but once it is harmonised and we operate a uniform exchange rate, no Nigerian would contemplate jetting out of the country for greener pasture.

I know this is a very big task but it is a must-do for poverty and hardship to leave our land.

The bankers are guilty of foreign exchange racketeering too. They hoard foreign currencies and sell them to Bureau De Change operators at an exorbitant rate. This is one of the reasons for the dollar scarcity.

If we have a unified foreign exchange rate, dollars and other foreign currencies would be made more available and the rate at which it is sold will be normalised. Of importance, is the phasing out of the fuel subsidy regime which has increasingly benefited the rich more than the poor.”

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