“The grace period and the 10 days are completely inadequate” – Ad hoc committee

The Ad hoc committee, led by Majority Leader of the House of Representatives Alhassan Ado Doguwa, was unimpressed by the new deadline and refused the extension, saying that the CBN must adhere to sections 20 sub 3, 4, and 5 of the CBN Act.

The ad hoc committee was established by the Lower House to investigate the matter during its meeting on last Tuesday.

In a statement released on Sunday, Doguwa expressed his dissatisfaction, saying, “The 10-day extension for the exchange of the old naira notes is not the solution. Only the clear conformity with section 20 sub-sections 3, 4, and 5 of the CBN Act would be acceptable to us as a legislative committee with a constitutional mandate from the House.

“Nigeria as a developing economy and a nascent democracy must respect the principle of the rule of law. And the House would go ahead to sign an arrest warrant to compel the CBN Governor to appear before the Ad hoc committee.”

He stated that the committee would continue working under his leadership until the needs of Nigerians were met in conformity with the law.

The extension, according to Doguwa, is merely a political ploy to further mislead Nigerians and aggravate their economic and social conditions. The CBN governor must appear before the committee or run the risk of being detained under the authority of parliamentary writs that the Speaker signed on Monday.

Additionally, he claimed that the course of action could scuttle the upcoming general elections.

“Security agencies and their operations especially at the state level are generally funded through cash advances and direct table payments of allowances to operatives during elections,” he said.

The Chief Executive Officer of the Centre for the Promotion of Private Enterprise, Dr. Muda Yusuf, used the same tone when describing the new deadline as being woefully inadequate.

He said, “The 10 days and the grace period is grossly inadequate. What’s the rush about?”

Additionally, he cautioned that the tight deadline would jeopardize a N100 trillion portion of the country’s Gross Domestic Product, notably in the trade and commerce and agricultural sectors.

The Nigerian Supreme Council for Shari’ah also protested the 10-day period at the time. The council decided that an extension of five months should be the appropriate time frame for exchanging old naira notes for new ones.

Nafi’u Baba-Ahmed, the secretary general of the Supreme Council for Shari’a in Nigeria, stated at a press conference on Sunday in Kaduna that a five-month extension would be ideal to accommodate rural residents without access to banks.

“We are in line with the National Assembly for five months for the old naira notes swap because people in the rural areas may have to travel. And There should be massive awareness of the naira swap,” he said.