The Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Godwin Emefiele, has failed to appear before the House of Representatives on Thursday.
Emefiele was scheduled to appear before the Green Chamber to defend the latest apex bank policy which, among others, sets limits to cash withdrawals at the Deposit Money Banks and other financial institutions.
The Deputy Governor, Corporate Services, CBN, Edward Adamu, in a communication to the House, told the lawmakers that Emefiele was part of the entourage of the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), on an official trip to the United States.
Deputy Speaker of the House, Ahmed Wase, read out the letter to members at the opening of plenary on Thursday.
The CBN governor will appear before the House “as soon as possible,” according to Adamu, to defend the policy.
The House had invited Emefiele to the chamber on Thursday of last week, with the possibility of questioning the governor of the CBN in a joint session with the Senate.
The resolutions were based on a motion of urgent public importance introduced by a member of the House, Aliyu Magaji, while another member, Ibrahim Olanrewaju, raised a point of order urging the chamber to demand that the policy be suspended until the lawmakers completed their investigation, a request that was unanimously granted.
Olanrewaju had noted that Emefiele’s appearance today might fail, and the lawmakers were scheduled to go on recess, with CBN policy enforcement to begin on January 9, 2023 – before their resumption next year.
