By Rotimi Agboluaje (Ibadan) and Adewale Momoh (Akure)
Chairman, House of Representatives Committee on Diaspora, Tolulope Akande-Sadipe, has called out the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Governor, Godwin Emefiele, over the new naira policy.
The shortage of cash in the economy, due to the CBN policy has led to immense hardship in the country. Akande-Sadipe, who recently collaborated with a senatorial candidate in Oyo State to rehabilitate a kilometre stretch of Ayegun-Oleyo road in her Oluyole constituency, said the petrol scarcity, caused by smuggling of the product to neighbouring countries compounded the problem.
According to her, CBN has made itself a tool in the hands of the opposition elements and fifth columnists in the All Progressives Congress (APC) for political benefits.
In a statement issued by her media aide, Olusada Olamilekan, the lawmaker lamented: “It is unacceptable for the CBN to leave the citizens of this great nation to suffer because of its lack of foresight and planning. The naira redesign is a good initiative, but the deadline was not well thought out. The implementation and procedural policy is a major failure.
“The CBN must take responsibility for its actions and work to rectify this situation urgently.”
SIMILARLY, Sen. Nicholas Tofowomo (PDP, Ondo Central) called for the arrest and prosecution of Emefiele for allegedly disobeying the resolutions of the Senate on the way out of the currency crisis in the country.
Tofowomo claimed that the Senate had, on January 23, urged the CBN to extend the deadline for the exchange of old naira notes to May 31, 2023, which he said the CBN governor ignored.
The senator also disclosed that the apex bank was directed to open an exchange window for Nigerians, who do not have bank accounts to deposit their old notes in exchange for new ones, a decision he said Emefiele failed to implement.
In a statement by his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Olumide Akinrinnola, the senator stressed that the alleged highhandedness on the part of the CBNs governor led to the untold hardship being faced by Nigerians over the scarcity of the new bills.
Emphasising that Emefiele should be held responsible for the outrage across the country, Tofowomo said: “By now, the CBN governor should be in prison for disobeying the Senate, dishonouring its resolution and causing naira scarcity. Imagine the scarcity of petrol and the rising inflation in the country, we still find it very difficult to have access to cash because Emefiele is lawless and proving very stubborn.
“As a sitting senator, I was in the bank on Friday to apply for a little cash, but I didn’t get anything. My cheque was returned to me because the bank didn’t have enough new naira notes to pay customers. They told me they had paid out what they had for that day even as many customers were still stranded and shouting inside the banking hall.”
Source: The Guardian
