BREAKING: Nigerian Government Orders Foreign Missions, Embassies to Conduct Transactions in Naira

The Nigerian government under President Bola Tinubu has issued a directive to all foreign missions in the country, mandating the use of the Nigerian Naira for all financial transactions.

This directive is aimed at curbing the prevalent practice of dollarization which has been impacting the national currency, the Naira.

The directive was communicated through an advisory issued by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Yusuf Tuggar. This advisory specifically targets the invoicing by foreign missions in Nigeria, which until now has often been conducted in US Dollars, particularly for consular services offered to both Nigerians and foreign nationals within Nigeria.

The EFCC, led by Chairman Ola Olukoyede, expressed significant concerns over this practice, highlighting it as a violation of Nigerian law. According to Section 20(1) of the Central Bank of Nigeria Act, 2007, the Naira is the sole legal tender within the country. The legislation clearly states that all monetary transactions within the national borders must be conducted in Naira, making any other currency use illegal and an affront to the sovereignty of Nigeria.

The letter from the EFCC to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs points out that the persistent refusal of some missions to adhere to this law not only undermines the country’s financial regulations but also poses a challenge to Nigeria’s monetary policy and its broader economic development goals. The commission has thus called for immediate compliance from all foreign missions, emphasizing that the ongoing situation is intolerable, particularly in Nigeria’s volatile economic environment.