The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has received a response from a Nigerian media outlet, Daily Trust, over the cover story from Thursday, June 1, 2023.
The apex bank depreciated the Naira, which had previously been sold through the Importers and Exporters (I&E) window for N461.6 to the dollar, according to a newspaper article.
Read Also: CBN Debunks “False Reports” About Naira Devaluation
Following the story’s social media craze, CBN displayed a stamp that said “Fake News” on their Twitter account.
The bank also released a statement in which it disparaged one of the most reputable media organisations on the continent of Africa.
CBN said;
We wish to state categorically that this news report, which in the imagination of the newspaper is exclusive, is replete with outright FALSEHOODS and destabilising innuendos, reflecting potentially willful ignorance of the said medium as to the workings of the Nigerian Foreign Exchange Market.
But responding in a statement, Daily Trust said it had evidence of those who bought the dollar at the reported rate, and challenged the CBN to provide any facts to the contrary.
In our newspaper and across our digital platforms today, we have reported that yesterday, the 31st May 2023, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) sold dollars to bidders at the Importers and Exporters (I&E) window at the rate of N631 per $1.
The story contains three facts and one interpretation: that the CBN sold dollars to banks on behalf of their customers at the said rate on the said window yesterday; that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu had spoken of his government’s resolve to unify Nigeria’s exchange rate markets; and he met with CBN Governor Godwin Emefiele on assumption of office Tuesday. All of these are facts and we stand by them.
Only a policy change by the government through the CBN can reasonably explain the wide difference of N169.4 between the two rates in just a single day. And only the CBN has the power to do that overnight, regardless by what name it is called.
Daily Trust further stressed that;
From the foregoing, therefore, we wish to reiterate that we stand by the facts of our story. We have evidence of those who bought the dollar at the reported rate, and we challenge the CBN to provide any facts to the contrary.
Finally, we wish to reiterate that we are not a fake news platform, as the CBN knows only too well.
