- The President of the Association of Foreign Airlines and Representatives in Nigeria, AFARN, Kingsley Nwokoma, faulted CBN’s claim on the foreign exchange backlog settlement.
Foreign Airlines operating in the country say claim by Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, that it had cleared all outstanding foreign exchange backlog is false.
Recall that the CBN on Wednesday announced in a statement that the apex bank recently concluded the payment of $1.5 billion to settle obligations to bank customers, effectively settling the residual balance of the FX backlog.
However, the President of the Association of Foreign Airlines and Representatives in Nigeria, AFARN, Kingsley Nwokoma, faulted CBN’s claim on the foreign exchange backlog settlement.
He disclosed that about $700 million belonging to foreign airlines was still trapped in the country.
Nwokoma, who made the disclosure in an interview with Leadership on Thursday, challenged the apex bank to present evidence to corroborate its claim of cleared backlog of FX belonging to the foreign airlines.
“This statement is just like the same thing they said the last time.
“If they say they cleared all forex backlog, and which include the foreign airlines’ backlog, it’s easy, it’s just for them to show everyone evidence to see that the foreign airlines backlog has been paid.
“However, it’s still the same amount they paid.
“They paid twice and we all know that the foreign airlines are complaining that they are still being owed over $700 million.
“If they say they have cleared it, then they should be transparent because transparency means showing how much they have paid to each sector, they should let us know,” Nwokoma stated