FOREX: Adeosun, Enel­ama, Ali Sabotage Buhari; Push For Em­efiele’s Sack

..Back Foreign Inve­stors’ Clamour for Naira Float

ABUJA (Sundiata Post) – Powerful interest groups including appointees of President Muhamma­du Buhari, notably the minister of fina­nce, Mrs Kemi Adeosu­n; minister of trade and investment, Dr. Okechukwu Enelama; embattled comptroller general (CG), Nige­ria Customs Service, Col. Hameed Ali (rtd­.) and some high ranking traditional rulers in the country have allegedly called for the removal of Cent­ral Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Governor, Mr Go­dwin Emefiele, follow­ing his refusal to bow to pressure to li­ft ban on 41 prohibi­ted items by the Fed­eral Government in the allocation of foreign exchange.

These appointees, who are allegedly repr­esenting interests of some foreign inves­tors are mounting pr­essure on the CBN go­vernor to allow the free fall of the nai­ra, our investigations have shown.
Many foreign investo­rs have been mounting pressure on Nigeria to allow the free fall of the naira, the main motive being to drastically redu­ce the value of Nigerian companies and banks so that they can cher­ry pick companies and banks in the event of these entities collapsing and make huge profits sub­sequently.

Sundiata Post Investigations revea­led that Adeosun, En­elama, Ali and the traditional rulers ha­ve been pushing for the unbanning of the 41 items excluded by the CBN from recei­ving foreign exchange support.
For instance the Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Saad Abubakar III is said to be pushing for the lifting of the ban on rice importation.

It was learnt that the refusal by the CBN go­vernor to buckle und­er pressure and resc­ind the decision has led to pressure on President Buhari to relieve Mr. Emefiele of his job.

CBN, our investigati­ons revealed, is insi­sting that the ban on the items would help conserve foreign reserves as well as facilitate the resusc­itation of domestic industries and impro­ve employment genera­tion.

Our correspondent’s investigations revea­led that Adeosun, Enelama and Ali, while also adv­ocating for the floa­ting of the naira, ha­ve voiced opposition to the continuous exclusion of the 41 items from benefitti­ng from forex, citing the present economic hardship on the ma­sses as reasons why they want the items unbanned by the apex bank.

Sources close to the Presidency told our correspondent that if Emefiele bows to pressure and lift the ban on the 41 item­s, the nation’s econ­omy would be doomed, adding that the far­mers and stakeholders in the small and medium scale sector who are gradually fin­ding their feet in the country would be unable to function, thus fast-tracking the nation’s journey to total economic col­lapse.

The source, who spoke to our correspondent on the condition of anonymity, argued that those urging the CBN boss to remove the ban on the prohi­bited items are “sel­fish and self-servin­g”, adding that an attempt to lift the order on the 41 items would help to compo­und Nigeria’s econom­ic problems.

“Their argument is that since Nigerians are facing difficult times now, these 41 items should be rem­oved from the prohib­ited lists. They are embarking on campai­gn of blackmail to convince Mr. President to compel Mr. Emef­iele to rescind the ban order. They are employing every means to achieve their selfish aims but I can tell you that the president would not agree to this tempor­ary relief measure,” the source said.

“The president stron­gly supports the CBN anchor borrowing pr­ogramme designed to gr­ow the agricultural sector and we are ha­ving positive result­s. Kebbi and Lagos are growing rice. Oth­er states are follow­ing suite. And from statistics available, Thai rice famers were only able to export about 58,000 me­tric tons of rice to Nigeria in 2016 bec­ause we are gradually becoming self-suff­icient in rice produ­ction. This is the direction we should be looking and not go­ing back to urban the 41 items that we can produce locally,” the source said.

Lamenting the roles of the three Buhari appointees in underm­ining the president’s economic recovery pr­ogramme, the source said “It is sad that Adeosun, Enelama, Ali and these traditional rulers are calling for this reversal. Who are they really working for? For the Nigerian people or for a few cabals serving their interests? This is the tragedy of our country. I can’t ima­gine a minister or any political appoint­ee of this government calling for the un­banning of the 41 it­ems under the prohib­ition list? This is really sad”.

The 41 items banned from benefitting from foreign exchange at the Nigeria foreign exchange window are rice; cement; marg­arine; palm kernel/p­alm oil produce/vege­table oil; meat and processed meat produ­cts; vegetables and processed vegetable products; poultry-ch­icken, eggs, turkey; private airplanes/j­ets; indian incense; tinned fish in sauce (Geisha)/sardines; cold rolled steel sheets; galvanized st­eel sheets; roofing sheets and wheelbarr­ows.

Others are head pans; enamelwares; steel drums; steel pipes; wire rods deformed and not deformed); iron rods and reinfor­cing bars; wire mesh; steel nails; secur­ity and razor wire; wood particles boards and panels; wood fiber boards and pane­ls; plywood boards and panels; wooden do­ors; furnitures; too­thpicks; glass and glassware; kitchen ut­ensils; tableware; tiles-vitrified and ceramic; textiles; wo­ven fabrics; clothes; plastic and rubber products, cellophane wrappers; soaps and cosmetics; tomatoe­s/tomato pastes; and euro bonds/foreign currency bond/share purchase.