CBN Governor Emefiele to be arrested? House of Reps takes bold action
- The House of Representatives is furious over CBN Governor Godwin Emefiele’s failure to honour its invitation
- Femi Gbajabiamila, the Speaker, threatened to invoke the provisions of section 89 which gives the Green Chamber power to issue a warrant of arrest on anybody who ignores invitations
- The House had set up an ad-hoc committee to interface with the CBN on the scarcity of the redesigned naira notes and cashless policy
FCT, Abuja – The Speaker of the House of Representatives Femi Gbajabiamila has threatened to invoke the provisions of section 89(D) of the 1999 constitution to compel the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Godwin Emiefele to appear before the House.
Section 89 gives the parliament power to issue a warrant of arrest on anybody who refuses to honour an invitation from them, The Nation noted.
Why the House threatens arrest warrant on Emefiele
Legit.ng recalls that the House at plenary on Tuesday, January 24, set up an ad-hoc committee to interface with the CBN and Managing Directors of Banks on the scarcity of the redesigned naira notes and cashless policy.
The lawmakers also asked the apex bank to extend the deadline for the deposit of the old notes by six months.
However, the CBN governor failed to honour the invitation for a meeting scheduled for Wednesday, January 25. He also didn’t send any representative.
Why Emefiele didn’t honour House invitation
A letter read on the floor of the House on Thursday, January 26, by the Speaker said Emefiele will not honour the invitation because he was part of President Muhammadu Buhari’s delegation to Dakar, Senegal.
However, Gbajabiamila appeared not convinced by the CBN chief’s reason.
The Speaker said though the CBN governor was a personal friend, he and other members of the House have a constitutional duty to perform.
According to Gbajabiamila, Emefiele’s refusal to honour the invitation or send a representative to the House was not acceptable.
CBN must attend rescheduled meeting, says Gbajabiamila
He said the bank must attend the rescheduled meeting summoned by the House before the close of business on Thursday.
The Speaker said if the bank fails to honour the invitation of the House to discuss a policy that has caused serious hardship to Nigerians, he will be forced to invoke the provisions of the constitution to issue a warrant of arrest asking the Inspector General of Police (IGP) to compel the CBN Governor to honour the House invitation.
Old Naira notes: Don’t yield to pressure from NASS to extend January 31 deadline, CSO tells Emefiele
In another report, a Civil Society Organisation, Concerned Nigerians, threw weight behind Emefiele and the mop-up of the old naira notes.
The group urged the CBN’s governor not to yield to pressure from the National Assembly over the extension of the January 31st deadline on stoppage of circulation and use of the old Naira notes.
The Convener, Comrade Deji Adeyanju, who condemned the directive by the National Assembly, said legally the CBN remains an independent agency of government that cannot be cowed to do the bidding of NASS based on the Act establishing the apex bank.
Source: Legit.ng