Arewa Faults VP Osibanjo’s Advice To CBN Governor To Devalue Naira

By Daniel Dafe

The Better Arewa Forum (TBAF) has condemned the advice of Vice President Yemi Osibanjo to the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to devalue the Naira.

The Vice President made the call while speaking during the midterm retreat of President Muhammadu Buhari’s second tenure, describing the advice as shocking.

The VP also said the exchange rate is artificially low, saying that this is deterring investors from bringing foreign exchange into the country.

But, in a statement not signed, TBAF said “the last time we checked, the VP is not an economist by any stretch of imagination. Secondly, with the present state of our national economy, isn’t it highly dangerous to start a policy reversal from nowhere?”

According to the statement, “the VP should not work against a system that made him what he is, in the pursuit of his unbridled 2023 plans.”

Adding: “The VP should know that going through the backdoor to pull down the system will be totally unacceptable to us as Northerners who have been getting legitimate access to CBN support for agricultural loans and other forms of support for our farmers.”

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Continuing, they opined that “every Nigerian is aware that insecurity is the real problem giving a deadly blow to the survival of the naira and not ” artificially low” value placement. This argument of “artificially low” value does not sound sensible to even a novice. With the growing security challenge in the country, everyone knows that most investors would like to pause for a while before pumping their resources in any part of this country, because of the activities of bandits, IPOB and Ighbohos of this nation.”

“It is a straight jacket, that insecurity is responsible for the fall of the naira and not some imaginary “artificially low value”.

“We, as Northerners, feel greatly concerned that any artificial tinkering with the current economic situation of the country by Osinbajo, on the premise of a personal belief would worsen the economic gains of the current administration, thereby amounting to something like a stab on the back,” the statememt added.

TBAF thus called on the VP “not to veer into an area he knows little or nothing about, especially given the current situation of the country.”

“We are in a period of working for solutions to current problems and any further confusion is unacceptable.

“We are yet to fully recover from the unexpected sack of a prominent Northerner as DSS boss, by the same VP and we will therefore not support a repeat of such a rash decision premised on personal belief rather than professional knowledge,” the group said.