The Speaker of the House of Representatives, Mr. Femi Gbajabiamila, has threatened to issue a warrant of arrest for the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Godwin Emefiele, if he fails to appear before the House on Tuesday next week.
The Speaker was angered by a letter from the Central Bank informing the House that Emefiele would not be able to honour the House invitation on the raging Naira withdraw policy in the country.
The Majority Leader of the House, Ado Doguwa informed him that Emefiele and his team did not not honour the invitation to a meeting on Wednesday.
Gbajabiamila said that if Emefiele fails to honour the invitation on Tuesday he would be compelled to invoke relevant sections of the 1999 Constitution (as amended) to compel his appearance before the Parliament.
The Speaker said that he would not hesitate to order the Inspector General of Police to produce the CBN before the committee.
The Speaker noted that while the House was meant to adjourn for the general election, it would stay to resolve the crisis generated by the current withdrawal policy.
“I will, pursuant to the authority conferred by Section 89 (1)(d) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and Order 19 (2)(1) of the Standing Orders of the House of Representatives, not hesitate to issue a warrant to the Inspector General of the Nigeria Police Force to compel the attendance of the CBN or Managing Directors who fail, refuse or neglect to respond to the summons by the House of Representatives,” he said.
The upper chamber, on Tuesday called on the Central Bank of Nigeria to extend the deadline for the circulation of the old Naira notes from the January 31 deadline to July 31.
The Senators who deliberated on the matter at plenary argued that the new Naira notes are not available in the banks at the Automated Teller Machine points.
The Senator representing Kwara North, Senator Sadiq Umar, moved a motion on the floor of the Senate to demand the extension of the current CBN deadline of January 31 to July 31.
Most of the Senators in their deliberations agreed with the submission of Senator Umar and voted in support of the motion put to turn by the Senate President, Ahmed Lawan, that the deadline be shifted to July 31 because of the scarcity of the new notes in the country.
However, the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Godwin Emefiele, said that the January 31 deadline to stop the circulation of old naira notes in the country will not be extended.
“I must say that unfortunately, I don’t have good news for those who feel we should shift the deadline, my apologies.” Emefiele said.
