CBN Withdrawal Limits Are A Draconian Policy, Emefiele Is Exceeding His Purpose, Says LP Reps Member

The Central Bank of Nigeria’s cash withdrawal restrictions have been characterized as harsh by House of Representatives member Mark Gbillah (CBN).

The senator added that Godwin Emefiele, the governor of CBN, has been acting outside the bounds of his constitutional authority.

This was implemented in a draconian manner, he remarked on Channels Television’s Politics Today on Thursday. “We have not heard from the CBN governor.”

Benue State’s Gwer East/Gwer West federal constituency is represented in the green chamber by Gbillah, a member of the Labour Party (LP).

His colleagues unanimously instructed the CBN to postpone the policy after he filed a point of order earlier on Thursday in the lower legislative chamber calling for the top bank to delay the implementation of the new cash withdrawal policy scheduled to take effect on January 9, 2023.

The senator claimed during a live interview on Channels Television on Thursday night that the CBN’s stance is “anti-people” and not beneficial to Nigerians who conduct everyday business using cash.

Gbillah asserts that Emefiele must twice a year address the National Assembly on the bank’s monetary policies and plans in accordance with Section 8, Subsection 4 of the CBN Act.

He claimed that Emefiele had been disrespecting the National Assembly and had not included it in the running of the bank.

The senator claimed that because the apex bank failed to submit an additional budget for the redesign of the three naira notes, the National Assembly did not approve any budget for the project.

He said that the new naira notes and the e-naira digital money, which was introduced more than a year ago, were not approved by the National Assembly.

Regarding claims that the bank’s new cash withdrawal limits have a political motivation, Gbillah said, “We do not expect the CBN to do the EFCC’s duties. However, there are allegations that this policy is meant to stop vote-buying and to reduce the quantity of money in circulation (Economic and Financial Crimes Commission).

“We don’t anticipate him (Emefiele) to be implementing monetary policies to attempt to manage and stifle problems that we have institutions to handle. We believe that he is exceeding the scope of his authority.
Some of us do believe that.

He failed to brief anyone. By law, he is required to (brief the National Assembly). He is required to perform this semi-annually.

He stated, “We have moved the motion for the suspension of the implementation because we do not think it is in the interest of the people and we want him to appear before us and explain to us why he has been running the CBN’s business in this manner.

Background

The CBN set the maximum daily withdrawals from ATMs and Point of Sale (PoS) terminals at N20,000 on Wednesday.

The CBN claimed that the new policy followed President Muhammadu Buhari’s November 23, 2022, introduction of the revised N200, N500, and N1,000 notes.

It instructed banks to make sure that corporate entities’ and individuals’ monthly over-the-counter (OTC) cash withdrawals did not exceed N100,000 and N500,000, respectively.

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