Congress Summons CBN Over Ban On Foreign Currency Deposits

Source: thewillnigeria.com

The House of Representatives Tuesday summoned the Governor of Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Mr. Godwin Emefiele, to explain the bank's recent policy directing commercial banks to reject foreign currency deposits.

This followed the unanimous adoption of a motion under Matters of Urgent Public Importance sponsored by Rep. Emmanuel Ekon (Akwa-Ibom, PDP).

Ekon said that although the CBN Act of 2007 confers it with the power to devise suitable mechanism for the exchange of the Naira periodically, Nigerians need to understand the merits of the policy.

The lawmaker further explained that if CBN failed to sensitise Nigerians, the policy might become counterproductive as it appears to have been misunderstood already by the public.

Also, Rep. Chris Azubogu (Anambra-PDP) said Nigerians needed to be properly informed and educated about the policy.

The Deputy Whip of the House, Rep. Pally Iriase also expressed his support for the motion.

However, Rep. Obinna Chidoka's (Anambra-PDP), was ruled out of order in his submission that the CBN boss had already been summoned by the Senate on the same matter.

According to him, the motion is unnecessary, as its concerns will be addressed when the CBN governor appears before the Senate, which has already summoned him on the state of the economy.

The Speaker of the House, Mr. Yakubu Dogara, in his ruling, stressed the need for interaction with the bank’s management for the purpose of informing Nigerians.

The motion was thereafter unanimously adopted by the House.

NAN.