Speaker of the House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila, has stated that he is ready to issue a warrant for the arrest of the Central Bank of Nigeria Governor, Godwin Emefiele, if he refuses to honor the invitation of the house on Thursday.
According to The PUNCH, instead of the House adjourning session till February 28 as scheduled for the elections, Gbajabiamila stated that the lawmakers would meet again on Tuesday to take action against Emefiele and other bank CEOs who fail to appear.
The Speaker said that although Emefiele is a friend of his, he would not hesitate to demand that the CBN governor be detained and forced into appearing before the House.
It would be recalled that the House had formed an ad hoc committee to study the paucity of the new naira at Deposit Money Banks, generally known as commercial banks, causing concern about the CBN’s January 31 deadline for exchanging old notes for freshly designed ones.
The House was notified on Thursday by Committee Chairman Alhassan Ado-Doguwa that the CBN chiefs had failed to appear before the committee on Wednesday. He mentioned that Thursday at 1 p.m. would now be the new meeting time for the committee.
Emefiele was scheduled to testify before the committee on Thursday, but Gbajabiamila informed the House that the CBN had written to the Clerk to inform them of Emefiele’s incapacity to do so.
The House, the Speaker added, would use the authority granted to it by Article 89 of the Constitution of 1999.
Gbajabiamila added that, contrary to popular belief, banks are allowed to accept defunct naira notes under the CBN Act.
