By Adebisi Onanuga, Abuja
The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has said it will soon publish the official figures of remittances the Federal Government received from Nigerians in the Diaspora between 2016 and 2018.
The apex bank stated this on Tuesday in its letter to activist-lawyer, Mrs. Funmi Falana, dated February 26, 2020, and titled, “Re: Request for the Official Figures of Diasporan Remittances received by Nigeria for years 2016, 2017 and 2018”.
The was letter was signed by C. E. Olonta (Mrs) for Director of Corporate Secretariat/Secretary to the Board of the apex bank.
The letter reads: “We refer to your letter dated 10th February, 2020 on the above matter and wish to inform you that the request is being processed and we will revert to you as soon as possible.”
Mrs. Falana had urged the Governor of Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Mr Godwin Emefiele, to furnish her law firm, Falana & Falana Chambers, with the official figures of remittances received by the Federal Government from Nigerians in the Diaspora.
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The request, made under the Freedom of Information (FoI) Act 2010, followed the alleged discrepancies observed in the figures declared by the CBN and the World Bank on remittances the country got from Nigerians in the Diaspora.
The lawyer had given the CBN seven days to accede to her request, as stipulated in the FoI Act.
Mrs. Falana said: “At 2019 National Diaspora Day celebration in Abuja in July 2019, the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Mr Boss Mustapha, revealed that the remittances received by Nigeria stood at $19.6 billion; $22 billion and $25 billion for 2016, 2017 and 2018.
“According to Mr Mustapha, ‘The money is currently utilised as social security funds to families (school fees, feeding allowances, hospital bills and so on). Some of it is invested in housing and estate development, hospital projects, schools and commercial enterprises but are not properly documented and analysed for impact.
“Springing from the above statement credited to the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, we request to be furnished the official figures of remittances received by Nigeria from the diaspora for years 2016, 2017 and 2018 respectively,” the letter said.
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