The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has placed international schools charging tuition in dollars and other foreign currencies under surveillance as part of measures to reduce the pressure on the naira.

The Head, Media and Publicity, EFCC, Dele Oyewale, confirmed the development to one of our correspondents on Thursday,  and said the agency would clamp down on schools and other organisations charging foreign currencies.

He reiterated that it was illegal for schools, hotels and firms operating in the country to charge for services in foreign currencies.

He explained that the 7,000-man special task force on dollar racketeers operating across the EFCC zonal commands was monitoring the schools and other organisations that might be involved in the illegality.

In a move to curb the free fall of the naira against the greenback, the ant-graft agency in February summoned the proprietors of private universities and other schools charging tuition in dollars.

The task force also conducted several raids in Abuja, arresting currency traders suspected to be speculating against the naira.

Worried by the depreciation of the national currency, the Finance Minister and Coordinating Minister for the Economy, Wale Edun, had met with the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Yemi Cardoso and the EFCC Chairman, Ola Olukoyede, to proffer solutions to the naira crisis.

Speaking on Thursday, in response to questions about the agency’s efforts to address forex racketeering and stabilise the naira, the EFCC spokesman, Oyewale, said the task force was set up ‘’to ensure that those breaking the rules find their way back to the right path so that the wrath of the law will not be on them.’’

Oyewale said it was illegal for any business operating in the country to charge for its services in foreign denominations apart from the naira, vowing sanctions for any breach of the law.

He stated, “The task force is not just to monitor naira abuse alone but for the whole economy. So, the EFCC is working to ensure that those breaking the rules find their way back to the right path so that the wrath of the law will not be on them.

“Yes, everyone knows that it is illegal to charge in other denominations apart from the naira. Whether in Chinese or American currency, any transaction that is not denominated in naira in Nigeria, the EFCC is against it.

“So, the task force is in place to check that and Nigerians should be happy about that. It is not just schools, hotels but other entities across the country that are doing this must come back to the naira as our legal tender.’’

He added, “Naira is the symbol of our economy and everything that has to do with the economy in Nigeria must be done in naira.’’

Asked if the schools, hotels and other businesses under watch would be punished if caught violating the law, Oyewale responded, ‘’Certainly, they are aware that we are watching them.’’

The National Union of Teachers declared its support for the EFCC over the move to sanction erring international schools charging in dollars.

• NUT Backs EFCC

The NUT President, Titus Amba, made this known in an interview with one of our correspondents in Abuja.

He said, “Though I am not meant to speak on this because these schools are private schools. However, it is necessary to note that this is Nigeria and if you are going to charge for services, it should be in the national currency which is naira.

“So, we support the EFCC on its mission. Acts like these are sabotaging the economy so we support the EFCC and the Federal Government wholeheartedly.”

The Executive Director of the Civil Society Legislative and Advocacy Centre, Auwal Rafsanjani, urged the government to review its memorandum of understanding with foreign schools and other businesses demanding payment in foreign currencies, noting that the economy was suffering on account of this.

“This cannot happen in the UK, it cannot happen in America, it cannot happen in any serious country. And that is why the economy is suffering because they have destroyed the value of the naira.

“So, we commend EFCC for rising to at least bring this issue to the public, because in the Memorandum of Understanding that they signed with the Nigerian government, there is nowhere the government permitted them to be charging in dollars. If there is anything like that, then we will need to seek reversal of that,” he said.

The group further asked the government to monitor the operations of all businesses demanding payment in foreign currencies.

Rafsanjani noted, ‘’Not only the foreign schools but even hospitals and real estate. Let the government review all those things, and if there were any fraudulent insertion of payment in dollars, the government should stop that as part of measures to revitalise the economy and our currency.”

Also weighing in on the matter, the National Coordinator of the Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria, Emmanuel Onwubiko, stated that payment of dollars to foreign-owned institutions was unlawful, urging the EFCC and other relevant agencies to take action against the concerned organisations.

He said,  “The currency that we use in Nigeria is the naira, and there is no reason why any private institution or any service provider should charge their customers in a foreign-denominated currency because that is unlawful.

“That being the case, the relevant law enforcement authority is supposed to act decisively to ensure that this kind of illegality is brought to an end. It’s not something that should be allowed because it also affects the naira, it makes the naira to become somehow worthless.’’

Onwubiku challenged the EFCC, CBN and other agencies ‘’to wake up to save the naira from collapsing. ‘’

“It’s not something that the government should just sit down and watch, they should make sure that the naira gains its respectability in the comity of nations,” he insisted.

The Executive Director, the African Centre for Media and Information Literacy, Chido Onumah, on his part, said the situation was a pointer to the lack of a regulatory system to check the activities of foreign schools.

The situation, he said, has also placed a burden on the public school system, urging the government to reinvest in public schools.

The president of the Parent-Teacher Association of Nigeria, Haruna Danjuma, explained that the EFFC had the right to decide on such schools.

He said, “I understand these schools are set up for commercial purposes, they are not public schools. As PTA, we have not received any complaint from any parent from any of such schools that they are being charged in dollars. But is the Federal Ministry of Education not aware of all these? Is it okay with them? Will they say they know nothing about it? If EFCC wants to pick them up now, no problem they should do so. We represent public schools.”

Credit: The Punch

The Nigeria Governors’ Forum says it is yet to conclude work on what the states can sustainably pay.

Chairman of the Governor’s forum, governor Abdukrazaq of Kwara State, noted that as members of the 37-member tripartite committee for the national minimum wage which is yet to conclude its work, “the governors are reviewing their fiscal space to see the consequential impact of the various recommendations.”

“While we acknowledge various initiatives adopted of recent by way of wage awards and partial wage adjustments, it is imperative to state that the 37-member tripartite committee inaugurated on the national minimum wage, is still in consultation and yet to conclude its work.

“As members of the committee, we are reviewing our individual fiscal space as state governments and the consequential impact of various recommendations, to arrive at an improved minimum wage we can pay sustainably,” the statement read in part.

However, the governors said they remain committed to the process and promised that better wages will be the invariable outcome of ongoing negotiations.

“We remain committed to the process and promise that better wages will be the invariable outcome of ongoing negotiations”.

Meanwhile, organised labour has submitted a proposal of N615,000 monthly minimum wage for workers, urging the federal government to approve same.

Oil marketers have stated that they are unaware of the specific logistical issues that the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) indicated were to blame for the country’s present low product supply.

Last Wednesday saw the return of a fresh petrol shortage, which has since gotten worse, leaving Nigerians to deal with the fallout.

Due to the scarcity, prices have since increased in Lagos to ₦1,200 per litre on the black market and as much as ₦800 per litre in some filling stations owned by the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN).

Prior to the shortage, fuel was sold at stations run by the Major Energy Marketers Association of Nigeria (MEMAN) for around 610 per litre.

Some filling stations sell petrol for as high as N850 to ₦900 per litre in locations such as Maryland, Ikeja, Agege, Iyana Ipaja, and other outskirts of Lagos. In some states, the product sells for more than ₦1,000 per litre at filling stations. Even at that rate, most filling stations have since shut their doors due to a lack of products.

The NNPCL blamed the development on logistics challenges. The spokesperson for the company Olufemi Soneye said last week that the challenges have been resolved.

But almost a week later, oil marketers have said they are in the dark about the nature of those challenges. They also dismissed claims that they were hoarding the products.

“Do you blame oil marketers for the current situation? If NNPCL gives us products, we will sell them because we are businessmen. We are in this business to make money, so we won’t keep products in our tanks if we have,” the Chairman of IPMAN Satellite Depot, Lagos, Akin Akinrinade told Channels Television.

“They said they have a logistics problem and have 240 million litres in store to distribute. But that was what they told us since last weekend. They said the logistics challenges have been resolved but they didn’t tell us the type of logistics problem they have.

“For now, NNPCL stations are mostly the ones selling with just a few others getting supply. But you know our members have the largest number of stations nationwide. If they give IPMAN stations products, you will see that the queues will disappear immediately.”

Currently, IPMAN has over 30, 000 filling stations nationwide.

According to Channels Television, a top source among the oil marketers said  that there is not much product in circulation.

“We don’t have much products as we speak. According to them, they don’t have smaller vessels to take the fuel from the larger vessels. Others are saying it’s because of bridging claims. As I speak, I don’t have fuel in my depot. I am going around begging for fuel,” he said.

“If you tell NNPCL you need say like 80, 000 tons of product now, they will give you 10, 000 tons. So, you will sell small, and then everything goes dry again.

“If they claim they have fuel, and no products in our tanks, then, it still translates to a no-fuel situation. Again, NNPCL is selling to us at around N600 per litre, and as of today, the landing cost of gasoline at the international market is ₦847 per litre.

“So, if I buy at ₦847/litre and add other costs, the pump price will be about ₦1400 per litre. So, if I sell at that price in my station, who will buy it? Even we marketers can’t buy much at that price. So, we continue to manage the situation.

“And if we make noise too much, they will tell us to go and import too. How will we import with the high exchange rate? If we import on our own, who will buy from us at that high price?

“Those currently selling at low prices know how they go about it because, during scarcity, everybody will be doing whatever they like.”

Chinedu Ukadike, the Public Relations Officer of IPMAN, had on Sunday, said that the prevailing scarcity of petrol could persist for an additional two weeks.

Ukadike told journalists that the product was not available in the country, because most refineries in Europe were undergoing turnaround maintenance.

“I also have it on good authority that most of the refineries in Europe are undergoing turnaround maintenance, so sourcing petroleum products has become a bit difficult.

“NNPC Group CEO has assured us that there will be improvement in the supply chain because their vessels are arriving.

“Once that is done, normalcy will return. This is because once the 30-day supply sufficiency is disrupted, it takes two to three months to restore it”, he said.

Unconfirmed speculations doing the rounds have also woven the current scarcity around an imminent increase in the price of PMS, which according to them, led to excessive hoarding, and panic buying, among other things.

While the public was still hoping for an improvement as promised by the NNPCL, IPMAN had threatened to withdraw services over non-payment of ₦200bn bridging claims.

The association’s unit chairman and spokesperson, Aba Depot, Mazi Oliver Okolo who made the threat, said it was with the backing of the IPMAN’s national leadership.

He claimed that the debt is being owed by the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NMDPRA).

In a communique released after a press conference on Tuesday, Okolo said NMDPRA failed to pay the ₦200bn debt despite a directive for payment from the Petroleum Minister (Oil) Heineken Lokpobiri.

The IPMAN deport chairman claimed that since the directive by the minister in February 2024, only ₦13bn had been paid to their members, saying that the unpaid claim had crippled their businesses.

“We are extremely distressed and depressed by the laidback attitude of the leadership of the Nigerian Midstream Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA), towards the survival of our member’s businesses, arising from NMDPRA’s deliberate delay and refusal to offset the debt of over ₦200 Billion owed our members, which has consequently led to the deaths of many of our members and the unfortunate collapse of their businesses.”

He blamed the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL), the sole importer of petroleum products, for the current nationwide petrol scarcity, adding that some of its members have “completely” shut down their businesses, and retrenched their employees.