Reps threaten Emefiele with warrant of arrest over new naira notes

The House of Representatives has given Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Godwin Emeifile, a last opportunity to appear before it to explain why there is still scarcity of redesigned naira notes at banks and automated teller machines across the country.

others who have failed to honour their invitations.

Speaker of the House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila, expressed his anger over the refusal of the CBN Governor to attend the meeting with the ad-hoc committee led by the House Leader, Alhassan Ado Doguwa, on Wednesday which was later rescheduled for Thursday.

He said should the CBN governor and others fail to appear at the next meeting, he risked arrest by the police, threatening to issue a warrant of arrest.

But the CBN governor in a letter which was read on the floor of the House by the Speaker on Thursday explained that he would not be available for the meeting.

The speaker however said, “They were invited to give reasons for the ongoing failure to adequately disburse the redesigned naira notes before the expiration of the deadline of 31st January 2023, when the old notes will cease to be legal tender.

“The House further constituted an ad-hoc committee led by the Majority Leader, Rep. Alhassan Ado Doguwa, for this purpose. No official of the CBN appeared to respond to the summons by the House of Representatives. This is unacceptable.

“The Resolution of the House was predicated on information showing that the rollout of the redesigned naira notes has been an unmitigated failure. This failure has real and dire consequences on the ability of Nigerians to conduct business across the country.

“The refusal by the CBN to heed the invitation by the House of Representatives is evidence of a blatant disregard for the well-being of the Nigerian people who are their customers. It is also an insult to the authority and prerogatives of the people’s parliament.

“Therefore, I will, pursuant to the authority conferred by Section 89 (1)(d) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and Order 19 (2)(1) of the Standing Orders of the House of Representatives, not to hesitate to issue a warrant to the Inspector General of the Nigeria Police Force to compel the attendance of the CBN or Managing Directors who fail, refuse or neglect to respond to the summons by the House of Representatives”.

The Ad-hoc committee on Wednesday agreed to reschedule the meeting with CBN and Banks Chief Executive Officers (CEOs) to Thursday after an earlier letter by the CBN which informed the committee that, the invitation letter was received late.

Chairman of the committee, House Leader, Alhassan Ado Doguwa, said they gave the CBN the benefit of the doubt and that on no condition should the CBN miss the rescheduled meeting.