The Nigerian lower House of Parliament, the House of Representatives has directed the Central Bank of Nigeria to suspend the new monetary policy which pegged withdrawal limits on cash transactions pending its compliance with the provisions of the CBN Act.
The House also passed a resolution inviting the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Godwin Emiefele to appear before it on Thursday next week at plenary to explain the rationale behind some policies it has introduced in recent times.
The resolutions which followed a motion of urgent public importance moved by Honourable Aliu Magaji (APC Jigawa State), got the support of majority of the lawmakers at plenary, who complained about the possible effects the new policy would have on their constituents, if allowed to stand.
The lawmakers had argued that the CBN's directive is against the provisions of Section 8, Subsection 4 and 5 of the CBN Act, which requires the Governor of the Nigerian apex bank to brief the National Assembly on efforts, activities, objectives and plans of the Board with regards to monetary policies, and economic developments and prospects for the future and present activities of the Bank and the performance of the economy to the relevant Committees of the National Assembly.
The House accused the CBN Governor of flagrant disregard for these sections of the Act, insisting that he has refused to appear in person to answer to questions bordering on the activities of the Bank.
But, the House minority leader, Honourable Ndudi Elumelu (PDP Delta State) in his contribution to the debate, disagreed with the motion, rather backing the decisions of the CBN.
Elumelu argued that the new policy will help in addressing rising cases of kidnapping for ransom, banditry and other criminal activities across the country, insisting that if the cashless policy is allowed to stand, it will discourage criminals from indulging in various crimes.
