The CEO of AbokiFX, Olumide Oniwinde, has been declared wanted by the Central Bank of Nigeria. The country's apex bank has equally threatened to close down the forex platform.
The development was made by CBN governor Godwin Emefiele, who described AbokiFX as illegal and accused it of devaluing the Nigerian Naira and putting the economy at risk. Emefiele further stated that the owner of the accused forex website publishes arbitrary rates without the express permission of Bureau De Change. “He is a Nigerian, living in England. We will track him. Mr Oniwinde, we will track you. We cannot allow you to continue to kill our economy”, Emefiele said.
AbokiFX, on the other hand, has not been quiet about these allegations as it has reacted to CBN threats. The platform's management said in a statement, a few hours after the CBN declaration, that it has temporarily stopped posting black market Forex rates on its website. The public announcement reads:
“abokiFx has taken the decision today, the 17th of September 2021, to temporarily suspend rate updates on all our platforms until we get better clarity of the situation."
The platform further declares CBN's allegations as unfounded.
“All allegations against our director are yet to be confirmed, but we at abokiFX DO NOT trade FX, nor do we manipulate parallel market rates. Outside the media allegation, we have not received any communication from any government body and our accounts are not closed as stipulated in the media". The website also wishes that the suspension of their activities would henceforth positively affect the Naira.