At Ministerial Screening, Wale Edun Says Naira’s Fair Value is N700/$1

Mr. Wale Edun, who is President Bola Tinubu’s Special Adviser in charge of Monetary Policies and one of his ministerial nominees, on Monday, said the fair value of the naira should be about N700/$, arguing that the over N860/$ it currently sells at the parallel market was not backed up by market fundamentals.

Edun stated this while answering questions from Senators, when he appeared for screening as a ministerial nominee before the Senate.

Some others that appeared before the Senate yesterday, were former Governor of Kaduna State, Nasir El-Rufai; Senator David Umahi, former Governor of Ebonyi State;

Ahmed Musa Dangiwa from Katsina; Adebayo Adelabu; Stella Erhuvwuoghene Okotete from Delta State; Enugu State nominee – Chief Uche Geoffrey Nnaji; Hannatu Musawa from Katsina State, among others.

Edun, a former Lagos State Commissioner for Finance during the administration of Tinubu as governor of Lagos State, also stressed the need to create the office of the Accountant General of the Federal Government, different from that of the Office of the Accountant General of the Federation (OAGF).

Responding to a question on the exchange rate, Edun said: “This is clearly uppermost in the minds of the monitoring authorities. For a country that has a revenue flows from oil revenue, from remittances, and from other exports and financing of over N100 billion a year, there is no reason that there should be no stable exchange rate, all other things being equal and provided that inflation is kept under control.

“The N860 to $1 we are seeing is not backed up by any fundamentals. The fact that these are as a result of the foreign exchange practice of the past with the inefficiency and the corruption involved, these are putting pressure on the exchange rate.

“Night and day, the monitoring authorities and the monitoring team of the president are trying to resolve the situation by raising revenue, other sources of investment funding and by attracting the investment funds, equity funds from those around the world that are interested in the Nigerian economy.

“Take for instance, Turkey has attracted $50 billion in investment funding from the United Arab Emirates. It is in such direction that the solution to the shortage of liquidity in the foreign exchange market is being sought including increased in oil production as a result of better security.

“It is difficult to predict because the capital markets take all the liquidity of their own. I want to say that the fundamental value of the naira should be somewhere around N700/$1.”

Furthermore, the nominee while answering questions posed to him by Senators, called for the split of the OAGF in order to create the OAGFG, which would be handling strictly the accounting records of the federal government.

He said, “I support the idea that there should be a separation of power from the Office of the Accountant General of the Federation and the Accountant General of the Federal Government.

“This would reduce the frequent friction between the federal government and the government at the sub-national levels in terms of revenues sharing formula”

Edun, also recommended digital capturing of all beneficiaries of the cash transfer, ahead of the plan to share the $800 million World Bank loan to vulnerable Nigerians.

He said, “Statements have been made on derogatory terms. It is not good to throw the baby away with the bath water.

“The provisions and conditions surrounding the $800 million World Bank financing is that every beneficiary must have a biometric verification, otherwise they will not be eligible for the N8,000 cash.

“Clearly there is a register that has the biometric of Nigerians to some extent, but we need to do more to reach people outside the formal financial system and that is the goal of the government.

“On the N500 billion Supplementary Budget, I think that is an appropriate sum and it is part of the current budget.”

Edun maintained that Nigeria was blessed with human and natural resources and expressed optimism that the nation would come out of its current economic quagmire with Tinubu as president.

He said, “Lagos success story was as a result of heavy commitment and investment in technology which was used to generate resources.

“We relied on the private sector investments to generate resources. Lagos economy was well positioned to an enviable position where it could source for funds domestically to meet the basic needs of its residents.”

He lamented that the nation’s economy was being challenged by insecurity and inflation because no deliberate efforts were made to harness the contributions of the private and the informal sectors.

He expressed the hope that there would be an improvement in the nation’s economy if enough revenue could be generated to carry out government obligation and service debts.

He said the end of subsidy regime and multiple exchange rate window has positioned the country for the economic growth.

He urged Nigerians, especially those in the private sector to embrace the policies and programmes of the Tinubu’s administration because the government cannot do it alone.

Edun also said Nigerians would soon be experiencing an improvement in electricity supply.

During his screening, El-Rufai, spoke on how the federal government could ensure constant electricity supply to the citizenry.

El-Rufai said, “On power, 80 per cent of the power generation is by gas while 20 per cent is hydro. Power and gas should go together.

“Transmission infrastructure can only carry 6000 out of the 13,000 megawatts the nation is producing. We need to look at it.

“The distribution companies were designed to involve private individuals and major investors, but it is not the case.  

“At the moment three out of 11 Discos are doing well, while the banks own six of them.”

“Subsidising electricity consumption with N1.6 trillion despite privatisation is unsustainable. It is unacceptable.”

He stressed the need for fresh capital and fresh investments in the sector.

He said, ” It is possible because six of them are under receivership.”

El-Rufai also said there was need to attract resources to the sector, adding that every house should have metre even as he said power should not be free.

However, there was a mild drama when the lawmaker representing Kogi West, Senator Sunday Karimi, stood up and told the chamber that he had a petition written against the former governor over the issue of insecurity in Southern Kaduna.

Raising a brown envelope, Karimi said, “Mr. President, I have a petition written against the nominee over the issue of insecurity in Southern Kaduna when he was governor.

“If I am permitted, I would like to read the petition.”

But Senator Sani Musa and two other senators asked the former Kaduna Governor to take a bow and go since he had appeared before the Senate, some 20 years ago.

There was another interesting scene when Umahi took a bow after he gave a brief introduction of himself.

The Senate President caused a stir when he asked Umahi to resume his seat after his appearance.

During his appearance, Dangiwa, who is a former Managing Director of the Federal Mortgage Bank of Nigeria, stressed the need to involve operators in the informal sector in mortgage financing.

“Informal sector has left behind but should be brought along. The federal government should ensure access to mortgage, cooperatives should be encouraged to access mortgage depending on the financial strength of their members.

“Affordable houses should be explored. We should review the laws of the Federal Mortgage Bank of Nigeria and the National Housing Authority. The Federal Housing Authority should collaborate with the FMBN to build houses for non-civil servants.

“The N1 trillion to N5 trillion cash reserves in the CBN should be accessed under single digit interest loans.

“Government institutions that could give single digit loans should also be encouraged to do so. We will collaborate with stakeholders to liberalise land use.

However, a female nominee from Delta State, Okotete, was asked to take a bow and go after her introductory remarks, giving details of her performance at Nexim Bank where she’s currently serving as executive director.

Nnaji, was also asked to take a bow after introducing himself and saying that he has special interest in agriculture.

A female nominee, Musawa from Katsina State, went emotional when she appeared for screening.

She said, ” I came from a poor family. My father sells goro (kolanut) to send me to school. My greatest regret is that my father is not here to witness her daughter’s screening for a ministerial position”

Nominees who would be screened today are Mr. Muhammad Idris (Niger); Prof. Ali Pate (Bauchi) Doris Anite Uzoka (Imo); Lateef Fagbemi (Kwara);  Hon. Ekperikpe Ekpo (Akwa Ibom).

Sunday Aborisade

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