The House of Representatives Ad-hoc Committee investigating the Central Bank of Nigeria’s (CBN) new currency policy will meet with Dr. Zainab Ahmed, Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), National Security Adviser (NSA) to the President, and Minister of Finance, Budget, and National Planning, today, Thursday.
The stakeholders’ meeting, which was set to begin at 3 pm, was planned in order to address remaining worries about the dearth of the newly created currencies.
It was however uncertain whether the CBN Governor, Godwin Emefiele was invited to the stakeholders’ meeting, as at the time of filing this report.
Recall that at a meeting with leaders of various ethnic groups held in Lagos State, the Speaker of the House, Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila, assured Nigerians of the House’s determination to keep an eye on the apex bank’s operations.
He added that the House will not be reluctant to reconvene before the commencement of the session if the existing condition of affairs persists.
The Ad-hoc Committee’s resolve to convene the stakeholders’ meeting was reached after a brief meeting held at the instance of the House Leader, Hon. Alhassan Ado-Doguwa held at the National Assembly on Wednesday.
Following the Supreme Court decision, a wave of protests over the excruciating difficulties created by the shortage of the freshly redesigned new naira notes took place in major cities all across Nigeria, with youths and diverse interest groups participating.
The Central Bank of Nigeria December last year redesigned all major naira notes and the affected denominations are N100, N200, N500, and N1000.
The Supreme Court temporarily halted the move by the Federal Government through the Central Bank of Nigeria to ban the use of the old naira notes from 10th of February, 2023.
This was occasioned by the suit filed by the Governors of Kaduna, Zamfara and Kogi state seeking to stop the full implementation of the Naira redesigning policy of the Federal Government.
The court has slated 15th of February for the hearing of the substantive suit.
