The Central Bank of Nigeria has firmly rejected claims that it directly provided $1.259 billion to petroleum industry players, explaining that the mentioned amount reflected market-based foreign currency dealings executed by participants in the Nigerian Foreign Exchange Market.
Through a Tuesday statement issued by CBN communications officer Hakama Ali, the nation’s banking regulator described news coverage implying it directly supplied foreign currency to prominent oil distributors for purchasing imported refined petroleum and related goods as “misleading and factually incorrect.”
The financial institution clarified that the amount referenced in its Q1 2025 Sectoral Utilisation of Foreign Exchange report represented the combined worth of foreign currency exchanges completed within the marketplace through voluntary buyer-seller arrangements, not direct central bank distributions.
“The Central Bank of Nigeria has observed certain erroneous reporting wrongly suggesting the Bank directly transferred US$1.259 billion to leading petroleum industry participants for importing refined petroleum and associated products. This characterization is completely false and deceptive,” the announcement stated.
“The institution emphasized that the mentioned US$1.259 billion figure, published in the CBN’s Q1 2025 Sectoral Utilisation of Foreign Exchange documentation, does not signify CBN distributions. The figure actually represents aggregate foreign currency dealings performed by Nigerian Foreign Exchange Market participants spanning multiple industries, including petroleum and natural gas, through voluntary buyer-seller mechanisms.”
The CBN detailed that since implementing exchange rate consolidation in 2023, the Nigerian Foreign Exchange Market has operated as a market-determined system where foreign currency originates from and is provided by marketplace participants instead of being assigned by the central bank.
“Following exchange rate unification in 2023, the NFEM has functioned as a market-based framework, where foreign currency is obtained and delivered by market participants, not distributed by the CBN. Therefore, the bank has not supplied foreign currency exclusively for importing refined petroleum or any other merchandise,” Ali explained.
The communications representative additionally clarified that the information mentioned in the contested coverage documented total foreign currency usage by licensed dealers and final consumers who independently acquired foreign money through marketplace mechanisms in complete compliance with existing regulatory standards.
“These constitute lawful market activities, not examples of direct CBN involvement in the petroleum industry,” Ali stressed.
The primary banking institution reconfirmed its commitment to maintaining a transparent and market-oriented foreign currency framework intended to enable effective price establishment, support economic steadiness, and enhance investor trust in Nigeria’s financial system.
