Muideen Olaniyi
28 December 2008
The Conference of Nigeria Political Parties (CNPP) has challenged the Federal Government to address the falling value of the naira.CNPP threw the challenge in a statement yesterday in Abuja by its National Publicity Secretary, Mr Osita Okechukwu.
The coalition group said as at last count, the country's currency; naira has slided from N117 to N140 per US Dollar. CNPP said: "Conference of Nigeria Political Parties (CNPP) is alarmed with the free fall of the Naira; which is regrettably an unholy heavy taxation on Nigerians. The Naira is sliding from N117 to N140 per US Dollar at the last count.
"Whereas, we acknowledge the global financial meltdown; however we strongly frown at the free fall of the Naira and lack of imagination or underestimation of the global meltdown by President Umaru Musa Yaradua administration. Government has been dithering or at best confused, improvising and ineffective, since the global meltdown which initially they claimed Nigerian economy was immune from.
"....Consequently, we call on President Umaru Musa Yar'adua to stop this heavy taxation, stop the protection of looters of our oil revenue and note that government has strong role to play in stabilizing the Naira, regulating our economy, financial institutions and recovery of missing funds.
It expressed displeasure with the excuse given by Central Bank Governor Charles Chukwuma Soludo that the slide of the Naira was strategic.
The body rated Soludo's purported comment as a free market view having failed to regulate the high interest of the banks when other countries are dropping theirs to the lowest to get their economy back on track.
It noted that the slide of the Naira would create uncertainty, instability, high food prices and hyper-inflation.
It pointed out that Nigerians are the victims of the free fall of the Naira while and government would remain the only beneficiary.
In his words: "Nigerians are the losers because oil is the only source of our foreign exchange earner and the oil is sold in dollars not in Naira. It is trite in economics that nations devalue their currencies to enhance exports. In our own case, successive governments in Nigeria had abandoned agriculture and light industries, leaving us with mono-oil- economy. Therefore we cannot benefit for we have nothing to export even textiles but oil."
It believed that the strategy Professor Soludo harped on was an attempt by the government to manipulate the Naira in order to squeeze money out of the people, thereby creating a way to make up from the fall of oil price in the international market.
While calling it 'heavy taxation through the back door', CNPP said Nigerians did not deserve heavy taxation.
It declared that heavy taxation through the manipulation of the Naira exposed 'gross corruption and inefficiency that is the metaphor of our return to civil rule.'
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