EFCC Task Force declares manhunt for dollar racketeers

In a move to reduce the pressure on the naira, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission has raised a 7,000-man special task force across its 14 zonal commands to clamp down on dollar racketeers.

The spokesperson for the anti-graft agency, Dele Oyewale, in a statement on Wednesday in Abuja, said the commission had summoned the proprietors of private universities and other schools charging tuition in dollars.

The naira has been on a free fall against the dollar in the past weeks with the currency losing value against the greenback.

The local currency plummeted to an all-time low of N1,534.39 per dollar on Monday, accompanied by a staggering 64.69% drop in forex turnover to $89.61 million.

Worried by the development, the Finance Minister and Coordinating Minister for the Economy, Wale Edun, had last Friday met with the CBN Governor and the EFCC Chairman, Ola Olukoyede, to proffer solutions to the naira crisis.

The meeting, according to a statement signed by the Federal Ministry of Finance, was to strategise on stabilising the beleaguered currency.

To strengthen the national currency and stabilise the nation’s volatile exchange rate, the CBN directed Deposit Money Banks to sell their excess dollar stock latest February 1, 2024.

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In continuation of the targeted measures,   the EFCC revealed it had set up a special task force to enforce the extant laws against currency mutilation and dollarisation of the economy.

It explained that it arrested some perpetrators issuing invoices in dollars and mutilating the naira in Lagos and Rivers States.

Oyewale said, “The EFCC has raised a special task force in all its zonal commands for the enforcement of extant laws against currency mutilation and dollarization of the economy.

“The taskforce, inaugurated by the Executive Chairman of the commission, Ola Olukoyede, was raised to protect the economy from abuses, leakages and distortions exposing it to instability and disruption

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“Already, the commission has made some arrests of perpetrators of issuance of invoices in dollars and mutilation of the naira in Lagos and Port Harcourt.

Also, proprietors of private universities and other institutions of higher learning charging fees in dollars have been invited by the Commission.

“The commission is committed to the enforcement of all laws in place for the reflation and stimulation of the economy.”

A source, who was not authorised to speak on the issue, revealed that all private universities and other tertiary institutions charging dollars and other foreign currencies in place of naira had been invited by the EFCC for a briefing, and sensitised on the fact that only the naira is a legal tender in Nigeria.

A second source, who declined to be named for confidential reasons, said the school proprietors would not be arrested by the EFCC unless they continued to violate the law by accepting foreign currency.

He stated, “The Special Task Force is operating in all our 14 commands, and we have about 500 operatives in each command’s task force; that equals over 7,000 operatives overall.