The House of Representatives Ad Hoc Committee on New Naira Re-Design and Naira Swap Policy has said the current crisis over naira redesign by the Central Bank of Nigeria is capable of frustrating the forthcoming 2023 general elections.
The committee also described the action of the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), on the crisis as leaving “much to be desired.”
Majority Leader of the House and the committee’s Chairman, Alhassan Ado-Doguwa, made these known in a statement he issued on Friday, about 24 hours after leading members of the committee to a meeting with Buhari at the Presidential Villa.
The committee had commenced an investigation into the controversy over the redesign of the N1,000, N500, and N200 notes by the CBN, especially the scarcity of the new notes while the old ones were rendered invalid by the apex bank.
Rather than report back to the House on the outcome of its investigations, the panel met with Buhari on Thursday, a few hours after the President made a televised address to the nation declaring that the old N1,000 and N500 notes ceased to be legal tender, while extending the validity of N200 to April 10, 2023.
While Ado-Doguwa said the President’s declaration should be enforced, the Speaker, Femi Gbajabiamila, issued a statement later in the day to tackle Buhari and Emefiele.
In what appears to be 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.
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, have 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.”
