The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has dismissed a recent protest rally against its policies and management saying it remained committed to pursuing monetary policy that will facilitate the recovery of the economy despite recent protest against its policies and management.

Governor, Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Mr Godwin Emefiele

Acting Director, Corporate Communications of the CBN, Mr. Isaac Okoroafor stated this while reacting to the  protest that took place at the  bank’s head office in Abuja last week.

In an interview on the sidelines of the Bankers’ Committee meeting, Okoroafor said that no amount of blackmail and intimidation would deter the apex bank from carrying out its monetary policy objectives.

He urged Nigerians to partner with the fiscal and monetary authorities in order to lift the economy from recession.

He said the present state of the economy was as a result of “our collective failure to make the right choices over the years, to plan and to develop our economy, as well as developments in the oil industry which saw a drop in the price of crude oil.

“We are not joining issues with anybody and the CBN is not going to yield to any kind of blackmail. But whereby you block avenues through which people were doing round tripping and they go and organise some innocent women, print T-shirts for them to say they are protesting, we would not be deterred by such actions and blackmail.

“All we know is that our economy is facing a very serious situation and both the monetary and fiscal authorities are putting their heads together to find solutions. Already, some of the solutions can be found in what we are already doing at the CBN.

“This includes making sure that we make judicious use of the forex that comes in and direct it to the most important sectors, to stimulate the economy and create jobs,” Okoroafor said.