Governor of the Central Bank, Mr. Godwin Emefiele appears to have succumbed to pressure as he is currently before the ad-hoc committee of the House of Representatives which is investigating the scarcity of the new naira notes.
This is following threats by the House that it would not hesitate to ask the Inspector-General of Police, IGP Usman Baba, to issue an arrest warrant on the apex bank governor to compel the 61-year-old banker to appear before the green chamber.
The House had hinged its decision to summon Emefiele on the scarcity of the new notes, and with a view to resolving the difficulties between the CBN and commercial banks. Although the apex bank governor had always insisted that many of the banks were hoarding the notes.
Speaking about the redesign of the naira, on Tuesday, Emefiele said the CBN’s actions were in line with international best practices and the apex bank has to be in control of the currency in circulation.
The CBN boss said in 2015 N1.4 trillion was in circulation, and by last year it had risen to N3.33 trillion.
According to him, the reason for directing banks to ensure only ATM withdrawals was to limit the daily withdrawal of individuals.
He decried the trend of the new notes being sighted at parties and stated he was in meetings with commercial banks to mitigate these.
Emefiele agreed that the policies would hurt some persons but claimed it was in the interest of the country especially in combating insecurity.
More details later…
