Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Audu Ogbeh, has warned that there are fake US dollar notes in circulation in Nigeria, driven by growing demand for that currency.
Ogbeh said in an exclusive interview with BusinessDay in Abuja, that some criminals are taking advantage of the scarcity of the foreign currency to circulate counterfeit notes
to unsuspecting people.
Fallen oil earnings in the country have seen a scarcity of dollars in the country, even though demand is not abating.
As at last Monday (Decenber 26) the naira traded at a record high of N485/$ at the Bureau De Change (BDC) window and about N305 at the inter-bank market.
This is despite various interventions by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to ameliorate the dollar scarcity, especially for manufacturers and other strategic actors in the nation’s economy.
Recall that the CBN in mid-November, gave access to about 7,792 requests for foreign exchange, valued at over $867 million to manufacturers and
other strategic actors in the Nigerian economy, to ease forex scarcity.
The CBN in a statement issued then, stated that the access was in continuation of its resolve to ease foreign exchange pressure on manufacturers, adding that it was given through the inter-bank window, to enable manufacturers and strategic actors to source for vital raw materials and spare parts for their respective industries.
With the price of food and other consumables soaring, and manufacturers closing shop, the activities of the dollar counterfeiters is worrisome as the minister said.
Ogbeh called for caution on the part of the public, especially manufacturers and urged Bureau De Change operators to watch what they are selling.
“Right now, there is something you people should warn the public about. There are lots of fake dollars being sold now. Nigerians who travel with them are getting arrested. Put that news out. People are scanning these dollar notes so cleverly, you go abroad, they arrest you with it,” Ogbeh warned.
AMADI NNAMDI
