Reps summon Emefiele over CBN cash withdrawal limits

The House of Representatives has criticised the new policy introduced by the Central Bank of Nigeria which, among others, sets limits to cash withdrawals at the Deposit Money Banks and other financial institutions.

Consequently, the House summoned the Governor of the CBN, Godwin Emefiele, to come and explain the policy to the parliament. He is to appear before the lawmakers on Thursday.

This is based on a motion of urgent public importance moved by a member of the House, Aliyu Magaji, at the plenary on Thursday.

The motion’s sponsor, Magaji Da’u Aliyu, claimed that the new CBN policy, which restricts daily cash withdrawal to N20,000, should not be allowed to remain since it would have a negative impact on Nigerians, particularly those who operate small companies.

Following a point of order raised by Mark Gbillah on the provisions of the Central Bank Act, the House directed the CBN Governor to appear before the House on Thursday, December 15, 2022 to brief the House on why the policy should be allowed to stand.

He claimed that the CBN was developing yet another policy that would negatively affect the general public without sufficient advocacy as the nation was still attempting to come to terms with the decision to redesign the currency.

Several lawmakers warned that the policy would have serious consequences and adverse effects on businesses and Nigerians who have no access to the banking system.

The Minority Leader, Ndudi Elumelu, however, said the policy would check crimes as funds would now be tracked through the banking system. He said though the timing might be wrong, the country would benefit more from it.