The Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria (CIBN) has urged government to reduce Nigeria’s current financial stress buy allowing every bank to handle its toxic assets. CIBN added that the ongoing inflation rate and corruption in the country is due to the activities of saboteurs within the system.
Kwara state Chair of CIBN, Abdulraheem Yusuf told The Nation in an interview in Ilorin, the state capital.
He said he has two solutions to the country challenges. “The intervention programme of the government in the area of agriculture can take us out of the present challenge; Effective management of our exchange rate can also take us out. Let us be able to add value to the agricultural products and we will earn more foreign exchange.
“At the moment it is only the Assets Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON) that buys toxic assets of banks. If government can take on every bank to handle its toxic assets the stress that is currently visible in the financial sector will be reduced.
“There is a lot of people within the system is sabotaging President Muhammadu Buhari’s anti corruption war. Government is battling with exchange rate and the issue of fraudsters among both public and private office holders.
“I am of the belief that if government can reduce the volume of corruption within the system and the sabotage going on in the management of the foreign exchange, very soon we will be out of the current recession.
“But one major challenge is the corruption issue and with the introduction of the whistle blowing thing we expect that very soon the National Assembly will pass into law the enabling law that will allow whistle blowing policy,” he said.
On President Buhari’s economic team, Alhaji Yusuf said “we are satisfied but people have called for the involvement of players in the private sector. They believe that the government has not involved the private sector enough to an extent. Most of his advisers are the ones brought on board to manage the economy.”
He also urged the government to police our borders adequately, as according to him (smuggling is having dangerous effects on our economy.”