Lagos Assembly decries naira depreciation

The Lagos State House of Assembly has passed a resolution to decry the continued depreciation in the value of the naira against the U.S dollars.

The house passed the resolution at a plenary presided over by the Speaker, Mr Mudashiru Obasa, on Tuesday.

The lawmakers said the free fall of the naira was worrisome, calling for urgent interventions to reverse the trend.

The lawmakers commended the apex bank for taking some measures to address the problem, expressing the hope that such actions would yield positive results.

Commenting, Obasa advised the Federal Government and the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to take some bold steps to salvage the local currency.

The Speaker said the Federal Government could strengthen the naira by reducing foreign trips for seminars and conferences by Ministries, Departments and Agencies.

Obasa said states could also help to save the naira by stopping foreign trips for conferences and seminars.

He said: “To save the naira, the federal government and states can stop foreign conferences and seminars.

“If possible, we can bring the resource persons to Nigeria to deliver their lectures. We all need to look inward to support the government.

“Locally, some people in Nigeria doing businesses demand dollars instead of naira. Even at parties now, you see people spray dollars instead of naira.

“We need a way out and to do this, we need the support of citizens. That’s the essence of sensitisation.”

Obasa suggested that depositors of dollars in banks could be engaged for an acceptable arrangement where such funds could be utilised by the government to help reduce pressure on the naira.

He further commended the National Assembly for inviting the CBN governor for discussion on the problem recently.

Obasa urged the government to regulate religious pilgrimages to reduce pressure on the naira.

According to him, this action could be sustained until the naira stabilises.

Speaking earlier under ‘Matter of Urgent Public Importance’, Mr Femi Saheed (Kosofe II) said the current naira-dollar disparity was the direct consequence of the policies of the Godwin Emefiele-led CBN.

According to him, the naira will gain strength if measures such as fixing the nation’s refineries, strengthening the education and health sectors are implemented.

“I think the current CBN governor should work on moral suasion to get people to pull out the dollars in their domiciliary account as a step to save the naira,” he said.