Godwin Emefiele, the governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), has been called before the House of Representatives in response to the new cash withdrawal policy of the top bank.
Following a resolution in plenary on Thursday, the lawmakers also demanded that the apex bank suspend the cap on cash withdrawals.
“The House of Representatives @HouseNGR, through a resolution, invites @cenbank Governor @GodwinIEmefiele to appear before the House on Thursday 15th December 2022 at 11 am to shed light on the newly proposed naira redesign and withdrawal limit policies,” a tweet from the lower chamber’s handle read.
A few hours after the Senate voiced its worry on the new CBN directive, the latest action was taken. During Wednesday’s plenary, Senate Minority Leader Phillip Aduda raised a point of order. He urged caution, claiming that the new withdrawals policy will have an impact on the nation’s economy.
In a same vein, Senate President Ahmed Lawan urged caution on the new order in his response, insisting that it is not something that should be rushed into. His opinion is that discussions about the policy are necessary. After that, he requested that the Senate Committee on Banking discuss the action when screening two candidates for CBN deputy governor positions (which is anticipated to take place next Thursday).
The new CBN policy will therefore be discussed by the lawmakers on next Tuesday. The apex bank’s new withdrawal directive set weekly maximums of N100,000 and N500,000 for OTC cash withdrawals by individuals and corporate organizations, respectively.
