Again, Emefiele Shuns Reps Summons, Lawmakers Kick
The Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Godwin Emefiele, for the second time failed to appear before the House of Representatives on Tuesday.
The House had summoned Emefiele to explain the latest policy by the apex bank which, among others, sets limits to cash withdrawals at the Deposit Money Banks and other financial institutions.
The House was to grill Emefiele over the policy on Thursday last week but he failed to appear before the lawmakers.
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, who read out the letter to members at the opening of plenary on Thursday, said the Speaker, Femi Gbajabiamila, had rescheduled Emefiele’s appearance to Tuesday.
However, the CBN wrote the House again to say Emefiele was still on official assignment.
Gbajabiamila said the lawmakers would want to know about the official assignment that had lasted two weeks.
The Minority Leader, Ndudi Elumelu, pointed out that should the CBN governor decide not to appear before the House on Thursday, when the lawmakers have scheduled to go on Christmas and New Year break, their resolution on suspension of the policy still stands.
In another letter titled, ‘Invitation for Briefing,’ the Deputy Governor, Corporate Services, CBN, Edward Adamu, told the House that Emefiele had other official engagements that had been scheduled before the lawmakers issued the summons.
Speaker of the House, Femi Gbajabiamila, read out the letter to members at the plenary on Tuesday.
The letter partly read, “We refer to your letter of December 15, 2022, inviting the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Mr Godwin Emefiele, to appear before the House of Representatives on a rescheduled date of Tuesday, December 20, 2022. Regrettably, the Governor is unavailable to brief the House of Representatives at this time because he has other pre-scheduled official engagements he is currently addressing abroad.
“Accordingly, he has requested that we respectfully convey his inability to honour the invitation on the rescheduled date. The Governor regrets this and will contact the House of Representatives as soon as he returns to the country from his official assignment.”
The House consequently resolved that the CBN governor appears before the lawmakers on Thursday.
