On February 4, 2024, the CDD War Room received a claim that the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) had issued a statement banning the use of the United States Dollars for domestic transactions within Nigeria. Attached to the claim is an image of a press statement titled “ THE USE OF FOREIGN CURRENCY AS A MEDIUM OF EXCHANGE IN NIGERIA.”
Claim: CBN released a statement banning the use of the United States Dollars for domestic transactions in Nigeria
Verification:
The Bola Tinubu administration has been engrossed in a forex crisis that has seen the value of the Nigerian currency drop compared to the US dollar. On this premise, the Olayemi Cardoso-led CBN has continued rolling out several measures and interventions to ensure the Naira’s stability against the Dollar. Some of the interventions (so far) were to unify the parallel and official exchange rates to ensure stability.
However, amidst these interventions, the Naira has plunged to about N1520 to a dollar. To salvage the Naira and the Nigerian economy, the CBN is expected to roll-out more measures and interventions. One of such perceived intervention is a press release attributed to the CBN.
The CDD War Room traced the press release to a publication by the Leadership newspaper titled “ BREAKING: CBN Bans Use Of Foreign Currencies For Transactions In Nigeria.” We found that the article was published on February 4th, 2024. However, the media organisation has now deleted the publication.
We also traced a copy of the press statement to the official X (formerly Twitter) account of Bayo Onanuga, the special adviser to the president on Information and Strategy. Attached to the image is the caption, “For the avoidance of doubt, only the Naira issued by CBN is the legal tender in Nigeria, not the US dollar. This is the law.”
The CDD War Room thoroughly scrutinised the press statement and found that the press statement, although originated from the Central Bank of Nigeria, was not released in February 2024.
We found that the press statement was released on April 8, 2023, and was signed by Ibrahim Muazu, the then-director of Corporate Communications at the CBN headquarters in Abuja. We can confirm that Sidi Ali Hakama is now the acting director of Corporate Communications. Hakama was appointed in December 2023, having served as a deputy director in the Corporate Communications department of the apex bank. We found that since she assumed the position of acting director, the CBN has been including dates in their press statement.
Therefore, the CDD War Room confirmed that the statement originated from the CBN and the CBN Act of 2007 referenced in the press statement still takes effect to date. However, the press statement dates back to April 2023, during the Godwin Emefiele-led CBN, not the Yemi Cardoso-led CBN of Bola Tinubu’s administration.
Verdict: TRUE
The CDD War Room found that the CBN released the press statement in April 2023 during the Godwin Emefiele-led CBN, not the Yemi Cardoso-led CBN of Bola Tinubu’s administration. We can confirm that the provision of the CBN Act cited in the press release still takes effect to date.
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