Lawmakers at the House of Representatives during plenary on Thursday grilled Mrs Aisha Ahmad, the Deputy Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) over the apex bank’s policy on cash withdrawal limit.
TheNewsGuru.com (TNG) reports Ahmad was grilled by the lawmakers who asked questions bothering on the cash policy.
Rep Femi Gbajabiamila, the Speaker of the House, said the reason why the House should be briefed on such a policy was that the lawmakers represent the people.
He added that although the Naira redesign may be a good intention, it was necessary for the apex bank to carry the lawmakers along.
Gbajabiamila queried the CBN rationale for three months’ notice when other apex banks usually gave more than a year’s notice for such policies.
“How can we rationalise three months’ notice in a cash-full society compared to England where a year’s notice was given,” Gbajabiamila queried.
In her response, Ahmad stressed that the CBN policy on cash withdrawal limit is not based on politics, contrary to insinuations.
Ahmad, who represented the CBN Governor, Mr Godwin Emefiele, said the policy was a sequel to critical thinking, research and other considerations.
She was responding to a question by Rep. Chinedu Obidigwe (APGA-Anambra) who wanted to know if the policy was aimed at favouring the ruling All Progressives Congress(APC) in the 2023 general election.
Ahmad said that the CBN had ordered N500 million to be printed for circulation, adding that the bank had been flexible by reviewing the policy upward from N100,000 to N500,000 for individuals and from N500,000 to N5 million for corporate bodies.
She said that the policy was expected to create new jobs in the ICT sector, contrary to insinuations that it would lead to job lost.
She said the operators of Point on Sales (POS) would not be affected by the policy, adding that that the CBN was aware that the POS had created a means of livelihood for about 4 4 million Nigerians.