CBN goes after AbokiFX for updating Nigerians on naira’s free-fall against dollar

Nigerian media outlets, including Peoples Gazette, have relied heavily on AbokiFX in recent weeks to publish frequent and steep crashing of the naira.

ADEFEMOLA AKINTADE • September 16, 2021

CBN Governor, Godwin Emefiele (credit: Bloomberg)

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has taken steps that appeared aimed at cracking down on AbokiFX, a popular forex publishing platform.

AbokiFX, which posts daily updates of the exchange rate on its website, was targeted in a letter CBN sent to commercial banks requesting transaction records of the website over an alleged breach of the National Intelligence Committee Act of 2004.

A spokesman for the CBN did not return requests seeking clarification about the move against AbokiFX throughout Thursday.

Nigerian media outlets, including Peoples Gazette, have relied heavily on AbokiFX in recent weeks to publish frequent and steep crashing of the naira against American dollars at the so-called black markets.

CBN Governor Godwin Emefiele has faced criticism perceived incompetence has led to naira’s depreciation.

The naira has depreciated considerably against the dollar over the past two weeks. From N525 per dollar on September 1, it closed at N570 on Thursday, according to AbokiFX.

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