Emefiele Fails To Appear Before Reps., Promises To Appear Soon

The House of Representatives has postponed the appearance of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) governor, Godwin Emefiele to next week.

The appearance was rescheduled on Thursday after Emefiele notified the lawmakers that he travelled with President Muhammadu Buhari to Washington.

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.

Adamu said the CBN governor would appear before the House to defend the policy “at the earliest time possible.”

The House had on Thursday last week summoned Emefiele to come and explain the policy to the parliament, considering a joint session with the Senate to grill the CBN governor.

The resolutions were based on a motion of urgent public importance moved by a member of the House, Aliyu Magaji, while another member, Ibrahim Olanrewaju, raised a point of order urging the chamber to demand suspension of the policy until the lawmakers conclude their investigation, a prayer that was unanimously granted.

Olanrewaju had noted that Emefiele’s appearance today might fail and the lawmakers were billed to go on break, while enforcement of the CBN policy was to commence on January 9, 2023 – before their resumption next year.