Foreign Missions Violating Dollar Transaction Guidelines – EFCC

Some third-party agents working for foreign missions have been accused by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) of circumventing transaction regulation by invoicing in dollars.

Osun Defender reports that EFCC on Saturday, read the riot act to foreign missions based in Nigeria, banning them from transacting in foreign currencies, and mandating the use of the naira in their financial businesses.

But the Director of Public Affairs of the commission, Wilson Uwujaren, in an interview on Channel TV’s Politics Today, said some foreign missions based in Nigeria are still invoicing in dollars.

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During the interview with Channels on Monday, Uwujaren said that the naira is the only legal tender in Nigeria, saying the commission had informed the Foreign Affairs Ministry of the development.

He said, “Section 20 sub-section 1 of the EFCC Act says that naira is the only legal tender in Nigeria; meaning that is the only currency that is acceptable for transactions anywhere across the country.

“We found situations that third-party working for missions circumvent that regulation by invoicing in dollars. A number of them go to the extreme of determining the exchange value of naira in their transactions.

“This is worrisome to us. So we have to bring this to the Foreign Affairs Ministry. The government has the responsibility to rule the protocol and channel of communication to bring this observation to the attention of the foreign mission to advise them to ensure that their activities do not go against our laws.”