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Alhassan Ado Doguwa, the Majority Leader of the House of Representatives, has claimed that the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Godwin Emefiele, misled President Muhammadu Buhari on the redesign of the N200, N500, and N1,000 bank notes.
This was stated by the lawmaker while speaking on Channels Television’s Politics Today on Monday, explaining that the policy would affect the 2023 general elections and doubted the sincerity of the CBN chief who was once a presidential aspirant in the APC.
The lawmaker explained why he believed the President was misled into approving the redesign of the three bank notes.
He said “The President as chief executive of government or the President as C-in-C (Commander-in-Chief), who of course is the leader of the party on one hand. I want to also look at the Central Bank and Emefiele as governor of the bank on another hand.
“Perhaps when the President is presented with the misleading briefing that is not quite expressed to even understand the implications therein, then, definitely, the President is bound to act in a wrong direction. That is my suspicion and that is my own understanding.”
He added that he met with the President on Sunday and expressed his displeasure, insisting that the CBN governor’s refusal to honour the green chamber’s invitation was an affront to the CBN Act and the legislative arm of government.
According to Doguwa, the President’s deadline extension proved that he was not fully briefed on the implications of the naira redesign prior to the policy’s implementation.
He continued, “It (the extension) goes to confirm to you that if the President was actually briefed ab initio of the implications and the outcome of the naira redesign, then definitely he won’t have come now to say let’s extend it by 10 days, which means there is an issue.”
So, I am sure Mr President will be one humble leader to understand when he is misled and he should be able to now come look at the right thing and take the right decision like he is doing now,”
Doguwa added, noting that the House would go ahead to issue an arrest warrant on the apex bank chief should he further fail to honour an invite by the lower chamber.
Remember that the apex bank announced its plan to redesign the three banknotes on October 26, 2022.
Buhari then unveiled the redesigned N200, N500, and N1,000 notes on November 23, 2022, while the apex bank set a January 31 deadline for the old notes to be valid.
The CBN also set weekly cash withdrawal limits for individuals at N500,000 and corporate firms at N5million.
As the January 31 deadline approached, many Nigerians lamented the scarcity of new notes, while the National Assembly demanded a six-month extension.
However, emerging from a meeting with the President on Sunday, the apex bank chief said Buhari gave permission for the deadline to be extended to February 10.
