To avoid another naira crisis, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has banned over 300 suspected illicit FX accounts trading on a peer-to-peer platform.
The suspension of these accounts was announced by EFCC Chairman Olukoyede in compliance with a court order.
The stability of the naira is seriously threatened by the “P to P” financial trading mechanism, which has expanded beyond the scope of legitimate banking channels.
In the past year alone, one of the FX platforms handled almost $15 billion in transactions that were not subject to banking regulations.
The weak naira has recently strengthened thanks to recent efforts by the EFCC, which took steps to defend the economy and the foreign exchange market.
Olukoyede pledged to step down from his position if Yahaya Bello, the troubled former governor of Kogi State, was not punished.
In addition, he pledged that regardless of the backlash and campaign against the EFCC, everyone who prevented his arrest will be held accountable by the law.
Bello is scheduled to be arraigned on 19 counts pertaining to purported money laundering, breach of trust, and embezzlement of N80.2 billion in finances.
Olukoyede said that in an attempt to address the accusations, the EFCC had complied with the law to a sufficient degree.
He referred to the ruling by Isah Jamil Abdullahi, which gave the EFCC the authority to arraign Bello in court.
Regarding the ongoing probe into allegations of corruption at the ministry of humanitarian affairs, Olukoyede stated that no one regime at the organization should be singled out or cleared due to the deeply ingrained problem of financial mismanagement there.
According to him, every single kobo allotted to that ministry is the subject of an ongoing investigation that extends back numerous administrations, even before that ministry was founded.
He called on Nigerians to back the battle against corruption because, in his words, if the EFCC fails, the nation fails.
