Nigeria’s anti-graft agency, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has announced a ban on dollar transactions at foreign embassies in Nigeria, warning that anyone who engages in such henceforth will be severely dealt with
The anti-graft agency said that the Nigerian local currency should be the only legal tender for transactions at foreign embassies.
A source in the EFCC confirmed the development to Africa Today News, New York on Sunday.
According to the source who pleaded anonymity, the commission sent an advisory to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, stating that all transactions at foreign missions should be conducted in Naira.
The Commission explained that the directive is part of efforts to strengthen the Naira. The value of the Naira dipped from around N700/$1 to around N1,400/$1 in the last one year since the collapse of the foreign exchange windows by the President Bola Tinubu administration.
Meanwhile, the EFCC has cautioned compliance officers of banks in Nigeria to stop disclosing the anti-graft agency’s investigative activities to their customers.
Read Also: ₦2.7bn Fraud: EFCC Set To Arraign Sirika, Daughter Today
EFCC Chairman, Ola Olukoyede, made the call on Tuesday, May 7, 2024, through the Acting Zonal Director of the Ibadan Zonal Command of the EFCC, ACE I Hauwa Garba Ringim, during a stakeholders’ meeting with Compliance Officers of Banks in Oyo State.
In a statement released by the agency on Saturday, the EFCC said it is aware of the fact that Compliance Officers give information to their clients regarding ‘letters of investigation activities’ written to the banks from the EFCC.
The anti-graft agency boss said the act usually jeopardizes the investigation exercise of financial crimes and delay corruption cases from being filed before the law court.
In another report, the EFCC Chair has narrated how cybercrime has hurt companies and its negative effects in attracting direct foreign investment for the country.
He lamented that no fewer than 71 percent of companies operating in Nigeria were victims of cybercrime in 2022 even as he argued that the Commission’s war against internet fraud is about safeguarding the country’s future.