Pat Stevens/
Former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar, has urged the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to reverse the ban it placed on trading in cryptocurrency.
Atiku in a statement he shared via @atiku, this morning, warned that the ill-concieved decision by the federal government could worsen the already burgeoning youth unemployment in the country.
The CBN, in a letter to bank’s and other financial institutions, yesterday, directed them to close the accounts of all cryptocurrency traders and stop all transactions on such accounts.
Atiku however described the decision as counterproductive, given recent statistics showing a steady decline in the flow of foreign capital into the country.
According to the former vice president, rather than imposing an outright ban, the CBN ought to have introduced measures to “regulate the sub-sector and prevent any abuse that may be damaging to national security”.
Atiku’s statement titled, ‘We Need To Open Up Our Economy, Not Close It,’ reads:
“The number one challenge facing Nigeria is youth unemployment. In fact, it is not a challenge, it is an emergency. It affects our economy and is exacerbating insecurity in the nation.
“What Nigeria needs now, perhaps more than ever, are jobs and an opening up of our economy, especially after yesterday’s report by the National Bureau of Statistics indicated that foreign capital inflow into Nigeria is at a four year low, having plummeted from $23.9 billion in 2019 to just $9.68 billion in 2020.
“Already, the nation suffered severe economic losses from the border closure and the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“This is definitely the wrong time to introduce policies that will restrict the inflow of capital into Nigeria, and I urge that the policy to prohibit the dealing and transaction of cryptocurrencies be revisited.
“It is possible to regulate the sub-sector and prevent any abuse that may be damaging to national security. That may be a better option, than an outright shutdown.
“There is already immense economic pressure on our youths. It must be the job of the government, therefore, to reduce that pressure, rather than adding to it.
“We must create jobs in Nigeria. We must expand the economy. We must remove every impediment towards investments. We owe the Nigerian people that much.”
0