The Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila, has declared that the refusal of the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Godwin Emefiele, to engage National Assembly on its monetary policies, is a clear contravention of the Act establishing the CBN.

Gbajabiamila noted that the Central Bank under Emefiele has not been engaging with the National Assembly or seeking its approvals as specifically directed by Section 8 of the CBN Act.

The Speaker, who stated these on Thursday during the House plenary when the CBN Deputy Governor in-charge of Financial System Stability, Aisha Ahmad appeared before it to explain the reason for the cash withdrawal limit policy, said the CBN Governor’s engagement with the National Assembly was obligatory and not an option.

In the words of Gbajabiamila; “It is not optional. it is obligatory of the CBN under Section 8 of the CBN Act to brief this House on its monetary policies.

“There is a reason that provision is in the law. That was not done. It took the prompting of the House, not once, not twice but three times to have the CBN come for this briefing that we are not even asking for. It is an obligatory briefing under the CBN Act, Section 8,” he stressed.

Speaking on the timeframe of the redesign of the Naira notes and implementation, the Speaker noted that the Bank of England gave the country two years notice before introducing new notes that have King Charles on them, adding however that on the contrary, the Central Bank of Nigeria gave only a three-month deadline.

He further said; “I want to address the issue. You may say that the horse has left the stable – the redesigning of the naira.

“All your policies may be of good intentions but, they say the road to hell is sometimes paved with good intentions.

“We are aware of the Bank of England, we are aware of the US. Just recently, the Bank of England changed their notes to the King Charles notes, and the bank made a publication that it would not come into effect until 2024. In other words, they gave a year’s notice in a cashless society.

“How then can we rationalise two, three months’ notice in a ‘cash full’ society? And not only do they give that kind of notice, in the United States, and in other places, even when the law or the policy takes effect, you are allowed to continue the usage of the old notes at the same time until it is completely phased out.

“So, these are questions that are begging for answers,” Gbajabiamila pointed out.