MARKET NEWS

Mr Emefiele has since 10 June been in the custody of Nigeria's secret police, SSS, following his suspension from office by the president.

By Ayodeji Adegboyega
 

Nigeria’s financial system was destroyed under the suspended governor of the central bank, Godwin Emefiele, President Bola Tinubu said Friday in Paris.

Reacting to the recent arrest of Mr Emefiele, Mr Tinubu said the country’s financial system was “rotten” under the ex-bank chief.

Mr Emefiele has since 10 June been in the custody of Nigeria’s secret police, SSS, following his suspension from office by the president.

After his arrest, the office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation said Mr Emefiele was under investigation.

Earlier, during the tenure of ex-President Muhammadu Buhari, PREMIUM TIMES reported how the SSS accused Mr Emefiele of various crimes including financing terrorism.

On Friday, at an interactive session with Nigerians in Paris, France, President Tinubu said the financial system was damaged by Mr Emefiele.

“Then the financial system was rotten,” Mr Tinubu’s office quoted him as saying at the event.

“Few people make bags of our money and then you yourself, you stopped sending money home to our poor parents. Several windows… but that is gone now, is gone.

“The man is in the hands of authorities, something is being done about that, they will sort themselves out,” he said

Since Mr Tinubu assumed office, he has reversed the multiple exchange rate system that allowed for an almost 100 per cent difference between the official exchange rate of the naira to the dollar and what obtains at the parallel market. The old system is believed to have been preyed upon by speculators who bought the dollar at the official exchange rate and sold at the parallel market, a system known as round-tripping.

The government says it plans to have a unified exchange rate although a slight difference still exists between both rates.

Subsidy

In his inaugural speech as president, Mr Tinubu cancelled subsidy on petrol, saying it was not sustainable.

The removal of the subsidy led to an over 100 per cent increase in petrol prices nationwide, as Nigerians struggled with the multiplier effect of the policy.

Mr Tinubu later explained that the subsidy was no longer sustainable, highlighting the negative consequences of encouraging smugglers and subsidizing petrol in neighbouring countries.

At the Friday event in Paris, Mr Tinubu again explained the need for subsidy removal.

“They thought it was the joke of the century until I called NNPC. We are tired of feeding smugglers, making a few people rich, and subsidizing the next-door neighbour,” he said.

“I met with the president of the Benin Republic today. Everybody is equal now, we are friends. We are conjoined twins joined by the hips, how we will separate each other is with this fuel subsidy.

“Let us see whether we will survive or not but we are going to survive you.”

He said the federal government was working to make provisions that would cushion the effect of the removal of the subsidy.

He also hinted at how his government was able to avoid mass protests by labour unions following the removal of the subsidy on petrol.

“You want money to increase palliative, transportation. What are you protesting about? Are you sharing part of the subsidy? If you protest, I will join you and protest against it. And they stopped. No protest,” he said.

“Palliative we will get but we have to save the money in order to embark on a palliative [measures].”