The Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria (ICAN) has squared up to the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) over its continuous adoption of multiple exchange rates.
The foremost accounting professional body in the country said the apex bank’s official rates regime would lead to abuse and create uncertainties in the minds of foreign investors.
ICAN President, Razak Jaiyeola, disclosed this in an interview in Lagos.
Jaiyeola, who is ICAN’s 54th president, also said the wide gap between CBN’s N305 rate and other rates of N360 would create undue arbitrage, cause transparency issues and affect forex supply, especially in the case of transfers and card transactions which were being traded at N305.
“I believe the multiple forex rates operating in Nigeria may not be the best as it could lead to some abuses. Multiple exchange rates have the potential to speak on uncertainties in the minds of foreign investors.
“This is a fact we cannot ignore in continuing to maintain the multiple forex rate regime,” he said.
On the Africa Continental Free Trade Agreement (ACFTA) which has been at the front burner for the past few months, Jaiyeola urged the Federal Government not to sign the agreement now until all the nation’s decaying infrastructure and other necessary developmental issues such as conducive environment for manufacturing were revisited.
He said, “The agreement will be an opportunity for other African countries to take advantage of the nation’s population and inefficiency to dump goods of manners and quality in the country.
“This is particularly possible due to our unbridled taste for imported goods. To enable the country benefit from the agreement, there is the need to first of all revisit our decaying infrastructure and other necessary developmental issues such as conducive environment for manufacturing. As of today, it was reported that electricity supply for instance, has dwindled to less than 3000MW.”
He cautioned that until Nigeria put her house in order; developed her export market potential, signing the agreement might not be auspicious and expedient.
“China and Russia put their houses in order before they signed the World Trade Organisation Partnership (WTOP) in 2000. Nigeria signed the agreement in 1995 and what has been the outcome compared to Russia and China that signed much later” he queried.
On the implications of the latest National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) report on population growth and declining GDP, Jaiyeola said, “There will be unemployment at a level much more serious than it is now, infrastructure will dilapidate due to over-stressing and all other normal services that government ought to provide would be greatly and negatively affected and in short supply.”
He said the situation would be as described because the growth was due to birth and not immigration.
“Consequently, until the new additions attain 18 years of age or thereabout, they would not be in a position to contribute to GDP growth,” he said.
On the proposed bills for Chartered Institute of Forensic and Investigative Auditors in Nigeria and Chartered Institute of Forensic Accountants of Nigeria, Jaiyeola lamented the introduction of the bills, saying all that were in them had been adequately covered within the scope of the training that ICAN provided.
“Therefore, the quest for a separate institute for just forensic accounting is totally uncalled for. There is no knowledge or professional gap that the proposed body would fill.
“Whatever perceived lacuna that this bill seeks to fill has been adequately covered within the scope of services that ICAN members render. Consequently, the need for the establishment of a Chartered Institute of Forensic and Investigative Auditors in Nigeria does not arise at all,” he said.
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