Aduragbemi Omiyale
By Aduragbemi Omiyale
The Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Mr Yemi Cardoso, has been asked to appear before the House of Representatives Committees on Customs, Finance and Regulatory Banking.
The central banker is being summoned over the decision to lift the foreign exchange (FX) ban on 43 items, including toothpicks, cement, rice and others.
Moving a motion on Tuesday, Mr Sada Soli said the action of the central bank was putting pressure on the Naira in the black market.
He also said the decision to lift these restrictions would greatly and adversely affect the local production of these items and hence be detrimental to the livelihood and competitiveness of local manufacturers of these items.
The lawmaker said this policy would lead to job losses as the imported ones are to enjoy subsidies which will ensure that Nigeria will not be competitive in the African free trade zone.
Mr Soli stated that the current increase in the price of the Dollar against the Naira would make it impossible for the policy to succeed, calling on the CBN to engage with other stakeholders to weigh the consequences of this policy.
He further called on the apex bank to desist from market suppression tendencies and engage in the development of the Naira and that the Governor of the CBN should come before the House to brief it on what the policy aims to accomplish.
In his contribution, Mr Kingsley Chinda proposed an amendment to delete all the prayers of the motion and amend it to read that the House Committees on Customs, Finance, and Regulatory Banking should carry out the interface with Mr Cardoso as well as with other relevant stakeholders.
The motion was voted on, adopted as amended and referred to the House Committees on Customs, Finance as well as on Regulatory Banking.
