FILE PHOTO: Members of the House of Representatives during plenary.
The House of Representatives Ad Hoc Committee on New Naira Re‑Design and Naira Swap Policy warned that the current crisis over the naira redesign by the Central Bank of Nigeria could frustrate the forthcoming 2023 general elections. The committee also criticised President Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.) for a response to the crisis that “leaves much to be desired.”
Majority Leader of the House and committee chairman Alhassan Ado‑Doguwa issued a statement on Friday, about 24 hours after leading committee members to a meeting with President Buhari at the Presidential Villa. The committee had begun investigating the controversy surrounding the redesign of the ₦1,000, ₦500 and ₦200 notes, particularly the scarcity of the new notes while the old ones were rendered invalid by the CBN. It had also grilled several stakeholders, including CBN Governor Godwin Emefiele and representatives of deposit‑money banks.
Although the Senate and the House had adjourned for the elections, Speaker Femi Gbajabiamila hinted that members might be recalled if the crisis persisted. Rather than reporting its findings to the House, the panel met with President Buhari on Thursday, a few hours after his televised address. In that address, the president declared the old ₦1,000 and ₦500 notes no longer legal tender and extended the validity of the old ₦200 note until 10 April 2023. Many Nigerians, especially senior lawyers, criticised the president for disregarding a Supreme Court ruling that all the notes remain legal tender pending a case brought by several states against the federal government.
After the meeting, Ado‑Doguwa said the president’s declaration should be enforced, while Speaker Gbajabiamila later issued a statement addressing both Buhari and Emefiele. In a seeming U‑turn, Ado‑Doguwa’s Friday statement, titled “House C’ttee Meets Buhari, Insists Naira Policy Unpopular, Could Jeopardise Polls,” stressed the need to mitigate Nigerians’ suffering caused by the naira crisis. The statement acknowledged “some of the good decisions by the president as contained in his national broadcast,” but insisted that “a lot must be done to mitigate the suffering of the masses.”
“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,” the statement read. “Mr President may, of course, have good intentions in using the policy to tackle insecurity, reduce corruption and engender 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 remain calm and maintain law and order, noting that 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.”
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