Emefiele appears before Reps., amid threat of arrest
Godwin Emefiele, the governor of Central Bank of Nigeria, has finally appeared before the House of Representatives. He had previously spurned summons on him by the legislative house. As a result, the Reps., Speaker, Femi Gbajabiamila, threatened to issue a warrant for his arrest.
The representatives demanded that Emefiele brief them on the controversial naira design policy and the limits the Bank recently imposed on individual and corporate cash withdrawals.
On Sunday, Emefiele announced fresh deadlines for Nigerians to exchange their old naira notes for the redesigned N200, N500, and N1000 banknotes.
The Bank states that the currency change policy would aid Nigeria’s drive to establish a cashless society. In addition, it said the policy would enable it mop up the trillions of naira outside the banking system. While announcing the new February 10 deadline for the cash swap, Emefiele said the Bank had recovered 75 per cent out of a total of N2.7 trillion of the unbanked monies, with N900billion yet outside the system.
The CBN says it equally believe that the policy would curb terror financing among others. However, many Nigerians have complained about their inability to access the redesigned notes.
More to follow …
