Chukwuemeka Ohanaemere, the self-styled Onitsha-based pastor better known as Odumeje, says he will stop the naira from further depreciating against the dollar.

Odumeje spoke at the airport when he returned from London.

The cleric travelled to the UK earlier this month to host a comedy show. He often boasts that he possesses a plethora of spiritual powers, which he releases periodically to fix issues plaguing society.

He had boasted of being behind the naira’s appreciation with one of his powers, when the currency gained 12 percent against the dollar in early April, building on a 14 percent surge in March.

On Friday, the naira depreciated to N1,320 to the dollar at the parallel market.

At the official window, the local currency depreciated by 2.24 percent to N1,339.23 against the dollar on Friday, from N1,309.88 on April 25.

However, Odumeje said he is back to stop the naira’s slide like he has always done.

“This is Indaboski Bahose. The war and the battle. A man full of power and activities. The only man who tells you ‘I will bring down the dollar’ and gets it done. When I left the country, dollar began to rise; now, I am back, I will continue where I stopped,” Odumeje said.

On April 8, the local currency strengthened to N1,120 to the dollar at the black market and N1,230 at the official window.

Odumeje had taken credit for the naira’s appreciation at the time.

Kanja Sesay, Sierra Leone’s minister of energy, has resigned after weeks of electricity crisis in the West African nation.

According to BBC, in his resignation letter on Friday, Sesay said he took full responsibility for the crisis.

In a statement, the government said the energy ministry has been placed under the direct supervision of President Julius Maada Bio, who will be assisted by two other officials.

Sesay’s resignation came hours after the government paid $18.5 million to two power providers, Turkish Karpowership and Transco-CLSG group.

Sierra Leone owed the two producers $40 million.

After two months of outages, power was restored in Freetown after the payments were announced.

Since mid-April, Freetown and the cities of Bo, Kenema and Koidu have experienced multi-day stretches without electricity.

Karpowership confirmed the payment in a statement.

“We are pleased to confirm that the electricity supply has returned to full capacity in Freetown,” the statement reads.

The company has been supplying electricity to Sierra Leone since 2018 from a floating offshore unit, but it had reduced its capacity from 65 megawatts to just five in recent months due to payment issues.

It had previously cut supplies to Sierra Leone in September over unpaid bills.

In October, it briefly cut power to Guinea-Bissau, saying it had been left with no option “following a protracted period of non-payment”.

The naira depreciated to N1,320 per dollar at the parallel section of the foreign exchange (FX) market on Friday.

The current FX rate signifies a decline of 1.54 percent from N1,300/$ traded on April 24.

Currency traders, known as bureau de change (BDC) operators, quoted the buying rate at N1,260 and the selling price at N1,320 — leaving a profit margin of N60.

At the official window, the local currency depreciated by 2.24 percent to N1,339.23 against the dollar on Friday, from N1,309.88 on April 25.

According to FMDQ Exchange, a platform that oversees the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEM), also known as the official window, during trading hours, a dollar was sold as high as N1,410 and at a low rate of N1,051.

Meanwhile, on April 24, Emeka Obegolu, president, Abuja Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ACCI), asked the federal government to develop policies that will strengthen the naira and foster economic growth in Nigeria.

“We are here to brainstorm innovative strategies for strengthening the naira, assessing progress, identifying challenges, and formulating practical solutions,” Obegolu said.

He pledged that the recommendations from the roundtable will be diligently conveyed to the relevant authorities for implementation.