Nigeria’s ex-deputy governor of the central bank, Obadiah Mailafia has reportedly said that a “huge” amount of “fake money” is in circulation in the west African country.
According to BBC, Mailafia said that at least 20% of the Nigerian currency, the naira, circulating in the country was “fake”.
Mailafia said this during a budget hearing in the National Assembly on Monday.
He called on the authorities to crackdown on fake money to protect the economy: “When fake currencies of that magnitude circulate, original currencies become scarce. Bad money chases away good money,” he was quoted as saying.
This came as Nigeria’s anti-corruption watchdog, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) reportedly found at least $9.8m cash in a facility belonging to an ex-Nigerian oil company boss.
The EFCC said a special operation by its operatives on February 3, 2017; at a property belonging to Dr Andrew Yakubu yielded a sum of $9 772 800 and another sum of £74 000 in cash, according to Africanews.
