Woodkirk Stone
Following threats from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), the management of Abokifx, a website that tracks Nigerian currency black market exchange rates, has announced the suspension of its daily updates. This suspension will remain in effect until Abokifx obtains “greater clarity of the situation,” management said on September 17, 2021.
Tracking parallel market rates ‘undermines’ the Nigerian economy
Abokifx’s move came shortly after the CBN’s monetary policy committee meeting ended on the same day. In his remarks to reporters after the meeting, Governor Godwin Emefiele accused the editor of the tracking site, Oniwinde Adedotun, of carrying out “illegal activity that undermines the economy”.
In addition, Emefiele suggested that the CBN is now hunting down Adedotun whom it accuses of “issuing arbitrary rates without contacting the exchange offices.”
However, in its own statement, Abokifx rejects claims that the site is orchestrating the fall of the naira on the parallel market. The statement explains that Abokifx, which was established in 2014, does what it was created to do: conduct market research and collect data on parallel market rates.
In direct response to Emefiele’s allegations, Abokifx also denies that some of his staff are fueling the naira’s free fall. The statement explained:
Abokifx only provides benchmark information on parallel rates that helps guide users in nearly 200 countries around the world. Abokifx does not trade forex which we have always maintained in our emails and social media platforms.
Abokifx accounts not yet closed
Additionally, Abokifx insists in the statement that it does not trade forex and does not have the power to manipulate rates. Instead, the rate-tracking site only publishes its sources on the streets of Lagos and according to what was gathered on September 17, the naira had plunged to a new low of N570 against the US dollar.
Abokifx claims that “apart from the media allegation” he has not received “any communication from any government agency and our accounts are not closed as stated in the media”. It is not clear whether the CBN is actually considering apprehending Adedotun who is believed to be in the UK.
Do you agree with what Emefiele said about Abokifx? Let us know what you think in the comments section below.
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