Former presidential candidate and a chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Adamu Garba has urged Nigerians to shift attention away from investing in cryptocurrencies and rather invest in cows.
The controversial politician made the submission on Friday in his reaction to the decision of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to order banks in the country to shut down the accounts of cryptocurrency traders.
The CBN in its directive, told Deposit Money Banks (DMBs), Other Financial Institutions (OFIs), and Non-Bank Financial Institutions (NBFIs) local financial institutions to stop any transactions in crypto or facilitating payments for crypto exchanges.
Naija News recalls the apex bank in the circular signed by Director of Banking Supervision, Bello Hassan, and Director, Payments System Management Department, Musa I Jimoh warned that disobedience to the directive will attract sanctions.
Reacting to the development, Garba in a series of tweets from his Twitter account, supported the decision of the CBN and called on Nigerians to invest in cows.
He argued that the policy is not a bad one but would limit the activities of fraudsters who swindle ordinary Nigerians of their hard-earned money.
“Better Investments! Those who might have lost their monies through a shortcut business called Crypto should learn to invest on real assets, like cows, which assured of huge returns on investment.”
“Cow Ranching business is more lucrative than all cryptocurrencies combined.”
“Crypto traders are supposed to be regularized so that they can be tracked in the event of cheats.”
He also added: “CBN didn’t prohibit crypto in Nigeria, they simply asked Nigerian financial institutions not to take part pending regulation.”
“You know the issue with dolarizaton of Nigerian financial space, crypto activities on Nigerian banks helps to further create scarcity of forex,hurting legitimate businesses involving labor practices in favor of people on their screens.”
“Another issue is the middlemen claiming to be in crypto trading, using these channels to defraud unsuspecting Nigerian citizens.”
“Everyone can do trade on crypto but not through Nigerian financial system. This i believe is a sound policy that need to be supported.”
He then added another video on Saturday with the caption: “CowtoCurrency Networking. Join the trend. Hugely profitable!!!”
CowtoCurrency Networking. Join the trend. Hugely profitable!!! https://t.co/6F9SxfpUdn
— Adamu Garba II (@adamugarba) February 6, 2021
Meanwhile, former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has told the federal government led by President Muhammadu Buhari to avoid policies that will push investors away from Nigeria.
Atiku submitted that in the face of global economic challenges which is also affecting Nigeria, the government should be opening up the economy and not closing it.
The PDP chieftain’s submission comes after the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) on Friday, shut down the trading of cryptocurrencies in Nigeria, and ordered banks to close accounts operated by crypto traders.
The apex bank in its directive in a circular signed by Director of Banking Supervision, Bello Hassan, and Director, Payments System Management Department, Musa I Jimoh warned that disobedience to the directive will attract sanctions.
Reacting to the development, Atiku in a personally signed statement on Saturday made available to Naija News urged the government to revisit the policy, saying the country already has enough economic issues it is dealing with without banning cryptocurrencies.