Politicians who withdraw the naira in exchange for dollar speculations for election purposes will be sanctioned.
This is according to the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) which said it is illegal to do so.
CBN Governor, Godwin Emefiele, stated this while responding to questions from journalists, after reading the communique of the Monetary Policy Committee (MOC).
Speaking on the likely impact of election spending on the value of the naira when compared to the dollars, the apex bank governor said the bank was monitoring the situation and will continue to use its monetary policy (discretionary powers) tools to mop up excess liquidity in the system when it believes banks might be looking to facilitate election spending or speculate on forex.
Speaking specifically about the use of forex for election purposes he warned those who might be considering this to avoid doing so as it was illegal.
“As for those who want to buy (sic) take naira from their account to buy dollars because of the election. I want to warn you that it is illegal to do so. Whereas it will sound more convenient to carry dollar because you could carry little dollars but with a lot of value in your pocket, but if the security agencies hold you, you know the implication of that.”
He also threatened that the CBN also has monitoring tools in this possession that it can use to track the suspicious movement of forex from one account to another.
Emefiele also warned potential collaborators that the CBN is a monster and will not hesitate to use the PND to stop customers from using their accounts for any bank transactions in the country.
“So, I will advise you not to get involved in unauthorized and illegal movement of money from your bank to your account or from one account to another account, or a currency conversion. When you do that and you are caught in that practice your account will be placed on PND” he added.
