House Committee Denies Summoning Emefiele

Shola Oyeyipo in Abuja

The House of Representatives Committee on Banking and Currency has denied media reports that it had issued a summon to the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Mr. Godwin Emefiele, over the new bank charges associated with the implementation of the cashless policy.

The committee chairman, Hon. Victor Nwokolo, Sunday dispelled the purported summon, saying rather, the CBN Governor was only asked to interface with the committee so that the conditions of the policy can be reduced for Nigerians in order to maximise the benefits.

The House of Representatives had last week passed a resolution rejecting the two and three per cent charges respectively on any deposit or withdrawal exceeding N500, 000 and had agreed to get the CBN to explain the rationale behind the policy.

But there were some reports that the House summoned the CBN Governor, necessitating Nwokolo’s clarification.

He said: “The motion simply asked the CBN Governor and the Bankers’ Committee to interface with us so that we can find ways and means to curb the hardship of the policy on Nigerians.

“We need to know how they arrived at the charges and the indices used to arrive at the conclusion too. Our intention on this issue is simple and it simply aims at the possibility of Nigerians using the policy to their advantage.

“By so doing, we will know where it bites most through the proposed interface with the governor and his officials,* Nwokolo said.