"They have reneged [on their agreement] and become somewhat greedy, recalcitrant with abnormally high profits from these sales. While ordinary Nigerians have been left to feel the pain and therefore suffer".
These were the words of the governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Godwin Emefiele, as he announced the end of forex (FX) sales to Bureau De Change (BDC) operators on Wednesday.
Emefiele said they had become a conduit for graft and corruption, and he even attacked embassies and international organisations for using BDCs for their transactions while operating in the country. He promised to deal "ruthlessly" with the Nigerian banks that have facilitated these transactions. At the same time, the apex bank said it would report these international companies that "patronise" BDCs to their respective regulators abroad.
In a confusing statement, the governor then instructed banks to create dedicated FX tellers in their branches to immediately and transparently
