The upcoming general elections in 2023 may be hampered by the current turmoil surrounding the Central Bank of Nigeria’s naira redesign.
The House of Representatives Ad Hoc Committee on New Naira Re-Design and Naira Swap Policy stated this.
President Muhammadu Buhari’s response to the situation was also criticized by the committee as “much to be desired.”
Alhassan Ado-Doguwa, the chairman of the committee and the majority leader of the House, announced this in a statement he delivered on Friday, roughly a day after he had accompanied committee members to a meeting with Buhari at the Presidential Villa.
The committee had started looking into the controversies surrounding the redesign of the N1,000, N500, and N200 notes by the CBN, specifically the dearth of the new notes while the CBN declared the old ones illegal.
The CBN Governor Godwin Emefiele and representatives of Deposit Money Banks were among the key parties who were grilled by the panel.
Although the Senate and the House were adjourned for the elections, Speaker of the House Femi Gbajabiamila had suggested that if the problem persisted, members might be brought back to make judgments.
The panel met with Buhari on Thursday, a few hours after the president delivered a televised address to the nation, rather than reporting back to the House on the findings of its investigations. The president said in the speech that the old N1,000 and N500 notes were no longer valid, but that the old N200 note was still valid until April 10, 2023.
Many Nigerians, especially senior lawyers, had however criticised the president for disregarding the ruling of the Supreme Court that all the notes remain legal tender pending the determination of the case brought before it by some states against the Federal Government.
While Ado-Doguwa, after the lawmakers met with Buhari on Thursday, said the president’s declaration should be enforced, the Speaker, Femi Gbajabiamila, had issued a statement later in the day to tackle Buhari and Emefiele.
In what appears like a U-turn, Ado-Doguwa, in the statement issued on Friday and titled ‘House C’ttee Meets Buhari, Insists Naira Policy Unpopular, Could Jeopardise Polls’, said a lot must be done to mitigate the suffering of Nigerians following the naira crisis.
The statement said while the panel appreciated “some of the good decisions by the president as contained in his national broadcast, however, the panel insisted that a lot must be done to mitigate the suffering of the masses.”
It partly read, “The steps taken so far by Mr President leave much to be desired. The policy is, at this time very, unpopular and is capable of creating a crisis in the country that could jeopardise the upcoming general elections. Mr President may, of course, had good intentions in using the policy to tackle insecurity, reduce corruption and engender the global best practice in fiscal policy management but, unfortunately, due to wrong timing and the work of some criminal elements in both the CBN and the commercial banks, Nigerians are left suffering.”
The majority leader urged Nigerians to be calm and maintain law and order, noting that the parliament would “continue to side with the masses and resist any policy that aggravates their sufferings.”
He added, “We also urge Nigerians to continue to be calm and pursue their lawful businesses within the ambit of the law as we will continue to explore available opportunities to make sure that government does only what is right and in the overall interest of our people.”