House Of Reps Threatens Warrant Of Arrest On Emefiele

The Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Godwin Emefiele on Wednesday failed to appear before the House of Representatives.

The development prompted the lawmakers to invite him to appear before the house on Thursday.

Naija News had earlier reported that the legislators on Tuesday set up an ad-hoc committee to meet with the CBN and Managing Directors of Banks on the scarcity of the redesigned naira notes and cashless policy.

The House of Representatives had asked the apex bank to extend the deadline for the deposit of the old notes by six months.

Following Emefiele’s failure to appear before the house on Thursday, the speaker, Femi Gbajabiamila threatened to invoke the provisions of section 89(D) of the 1999 Constitution as amended to compel Emiefele to appear before the House.

Section 89 gives the parliament power to issue a warrant of arrest on anybody who refuses to honour an invitation from them.

A letter read on the floor of the House on Thursday by the Speaker and signed by CBN’s Deputy Governor, Corporate Services said Emefiele will not honour the invitation because he was part of President Muhammadu Buhari’s delegation to Dakar, Senegal.

Gbajabiamila reacting to the letter from the apex bank, Gbajabiamila said though the CBN Governor was a personal friend, he and other members of the House have a constitutional duty to perform.

He said the refusal of the CBN Governor to honour the invitation or send a representative to the House was not acceptable, adding the bank must attend the meeting summoned by the House before the close of business on Thursday.

He said if the bank fails to honour the invitation of the House to discuss a policy, he will be forced to invoke the provisions of the constitution to issue a warrant of arrest asking the Inspector General of Police to compel the CBN Governor to honour the House invitation.