EKO NEWS
Naira Notes Scarcity Will Necessitate Another Meeting In The House of Rep Before Election – Gbajabiamila
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Nigerians have been struggling to access the redesigned naira notes for several weeks.
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The situation has persisted despite numerous promises by the federal government to sort it out.
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Gbajabiamila spoke about the situation with his constituents on Sunday.
Eko Hot Blog reports that the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila, has revealed his intention to call lawmakers back to session before the February 25 presidential and national assembly elections.
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The lawmakers are currently on recess until after the elections.
Speaking on Sunday at a town hall meeting with some ethnic groups in his constituency, the speaker said the lawmakers will return to work early if the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) does not fix the current shortage of new naira notes.
Gbajabiamila said the lower legislative chamber is monitoring the situation to see if the apex bank would address the scarcity of the new naira notes.
He also disclosed how he got close to signing the warrant for the arrest of the CBN governor, Godwin Emefiele, before he eventually appeared before an ad hoc committee of the house.
“The house of representatives intervened on several occasions. We summoned the CBN governor the first time and again, but he refused to answer, because we had many hard questions for him,” the speaker said.
“It was until I issued the threat of a warrant of arrest before he came, and I would’ve signed that warrant; it would’ve been the first time in the history of the national assembly that a CBN governor would be arrested. I would’ve done it.
“Many have argued on the independence of CBN, the autonomy of CBN. That does not make the CBN above the law.
“The constitution gives the house the power to issue an arrest warrant against anyone. We can summon anybody, and that was exactly what the house was going to do until the CBN governor came.
“So, we are watching, and we are monitoring very closely. If need be, we will reconvene the house, even though we’ve all been away for our elections. I will call the house back, if need be.”
Gbajabiamila expressed dissatisfaction that many people have worked hard for their money, yet they could not access it.
“If nothing changes, we will intervene again, but be sure of one thing: that Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu stands with you and stands with Nigerians in their suffering,” he said.
“He was the first to shout, what is going on? He has cried; he has begged; he has screamed that people are suffering, what did the PDP candidate say? He said, ‘No, CBN, don’t listen to them; you must not extend this thing; let people continue to suffer.’ That is what the PDP candidate said. He said it publicly.
FURTHER READING
“So, you have the tale of two presidential candidates: one who stands with the people and says this currency swap must stop; the second one says, ‘no, it cannot stop, it’s a good policy.”
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