The Senate of the federal
republic of Nigeria has expressed great concern over the widespread usage of
Bit-coin, a form of Crypto-currency and other ponzi schemes across the country.
This was consequent upon a motion
moved by Senator Benjamin Uwaiumogu (Imo North), who expressed concern that
Nigerians were freely advised, and even persuaded to invest in crypto-currency
as it promised quick returns, in certain instances, a triple or quadruple of
the invested sum as profit within days.
He noted that Google, quoted one
(1) Bit coin to be the equivalent of N5, 706, 713.20 as at 10th December 2018.
The motion was titled ‘urgent
need to investigate the proliferation of Bit-coin, a form of Crypto-currency,
to ascertain the worthiness of same as a form of investment in Nigeria’.
The senate stressed that not only
has the proliferation of Bit-coin become one of the forms of investment in the
country, it is openly marketed across the country on the local television and
radio stations, mostly to Nigerians not aware of the consequences.
Leading the debate, Senator
Uwajumogu said that, “Bit-coin is not recognized by the Central Bank, does not
exist in any tangible form and is also not subject to any international or
local monetary regulations, or backed up by any established government
institution for that matter”.
The lawmaker also reminded the
senate that the MMM bubble of 2016, left millions of Nigerian families broken,
devastated and many business men lost all their capital in the phony scheme.
“As Nigeria is recovering from
recession, it will be devastating for our citizens to lose their hard earned
money on schemes they could easily have avoided had they been properly advised
by the government”, he said.
Mr. Uwajumogu lamented that the
Central Bank of Nigeria, Nigeria Stock Exchange, Nigeria Deposit Insurance
Commission and the National Orientation Agency were not doing enough to educate
Nigerians on the investment risks inherent in Bit-coin as he expressed worry
that the wonder banks like Bit-coin traders, Swiss golden traders, had carried
on their businesses unchecked in Nigeria, mostly to the detriment of the
citizens.
Contributing to the motion, Dino
Melaye (APC, Kogi West) urged Nigerians as well as relevant intelligence
agencies to learn from the MMM saga.
“Many lost their lives due to
MMM. No country, no intelligence agency will allow financial scams like MMM,
Bitcoin to operate in the borders of their country. Nigeria is so docile that
everything comes in.
“If it is a lottery, it should go
through national lottery commission, if it is a form of exchange of currency
where the CBN can regulate that. The motion is coming because as a senate we
need to defend the people”, he said.
Senator Bala Na’Allah (APC, Kebbi
South) urged the Senate to intervene as he claimed to be an analogue senator.
“I don’t do internet banking. I
like to count my money myself. I’m analogue, I don’t want to go digital. It is
safe that way.
“They will just go and pop up
something and return them (Nigerians) back to square one. It is not nice, it is
not ethical and I think we must intervene in this kind of situation”, he said.
The senate therefore urged the
Central Bank of Nigeria, the NDIC and the Nigerian Stock Exchange to make an
unequivocal statement across all the News platforms in all dialects on the
dangers of Bit-coin as a store of value in Nigeria.
The senate also resolved to “call
on the National Orientation Agency to spread the News against all forms of
Wonder banks and Ponzi schemes Operating in Nigeria.”
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