The Association of Bureaux De Change Operators of Nigeria, has tasked the Federal Government to set out a workable plan to generate more revenue across every sector of the economy.
The President, ABCON, Alhaji Aminu Gwadabe, explained that while the government should develop every sector of the economy, for purposes of revenue diversification, there was the need to optimise strategic areas that will yield the highest and quickest
returns.
Gwadabe, who was honoured with ‘Private Sector Personality of Year 2017’ award at the Nigeria NewsDirect Awards, said, “Obviously, money from the Federation Account has become insufficient for many states and the target now should be making every state viable, capable of independently sustaining itself without support from the Federal Government in the long run.
“It is time for states to begin to think of ways of generating funds besides taxation and federal allocations. There is the need for the public to be carried along in the government’s response to the economic crises that are biting hard. The public needs to know what actions the government is taking to address existing challenges and the expected results of those actions.”
He added that the CBN should use the current buffers presented by the $46 billion foreign exchange reserves to tackle the multiplicity of exchange rates. He said the CBN should also look at the challenges faced by BDCs in terms of pricing of their dollars, and even make BDCs direct agent of the International Money Transfer Operators.
He said, “CBN is implementing appropriate measures to make foreign exchange available and the naira stable against world currencies. At the ABCON end, we have established a live rate engineroom to be rolled out soon, that will ensure uniform genuine rate quote across forex market.
“We assure CBN and other stakeholders in the forex market that Bureau de Change operators stand ready to collaborate with them in supporting the development of a viable and stable foreign exchange market for the
country.”
Other awardees at the Man of The Year Award in Lagos, are Governor, Central Bank of Nigeria, Mr. Godwin Emefiele (Chief Executive of the Year); Group Managing Director, Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, Mr. Maikanti Baru, (Man of the Year); Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Mr. Babatunde Fashola, (Minister of the Year); Group Managing Director, Access Bank Plc, Mr. Herbert Wigwe, (Bank CEO of the Year), among others.
