Reps committee to meet CBN officials, Banks’ CEOs over naira redesign
Babajide Akinlade
An ad-hoc committee of the House of Representatives has scheduled a meeting with officials of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and chief executive officers of money deposit banks in the country.
The meeting, originally slated for Wednesday, would now be held on Thursday at 1pm.
Alhassan Doguwa, the majority leader of the house of representatives and chairman 0f the committee, explained that the meeting would focus on the deadline given by the CBN for the exchange of old currencies for new ones.
He said the legislature would not allow an “unpopular” policy to derail the economy and said the deadline could be reversed, in the general interest of the populace.
Doguwa added that it was important that the invited officials attend the meeting.
He stressed, “None of us here is acting for any personal reasons, especially on a matter like this where Nigerian people and economy are threatened by a lot of dangers by the policy of a government department.”
“Those of us who are working for the Nigerian people, we cannot sit down here and watch policies of the government that are not unpopular — they are threatening the survival of our economy to continue.
“I hear some of them say it is a matter they have decided; it is a matter that no one goes back about it.
“This is the supreme institution of Nigeria’s democracy and I want to say without any fear of contradiction that for whatever policy the government is undertaking, especially at a critical period like this, Nigerians must know and whoever is involved must know that definitely, the interest of the Nigerian people holds sway.
“So, there is no policy whatsoever that cannot be reversed — good or bad — as long as that policy or the reversal of that policy is going to be in the overall interest of Nigerians.
“We would not endanger our economy. We would also not allow anybody to endanger our economy. CBN must appear before this communication of the house of representatives tomorrow by 1pm to discuss this very critical matter.
“It borders on the survival of our economy and our people. Businesses are shut down all over. Agriculture is suffering; petty businesses in the villages are also suffering,” he said.
