Following his failure to appear before the House of Representatives over the controversial withdrawal limit, Godwin Emefiele, the Central Bank Governor, has said he was not available to brief the lower chamber. 

It should be recalled that the house of representatives had summoned the apex bank governor to brief members on how Nigerians and businesses will fare in the face of the withdrawal limit policy.

A number of groups including the Association of Mobile Money Operators of Nigeria lamented that the new policy is capable of ruining their business. 

Investors King earlier reported that the central bank restricted the maximum cash withdrawal over the counter (OTC) by individuals and corporate organisations per week to N100,000 and N500,000 respectively.

The policy however stated that withdrawals above the thresholds would attract processing fees of five percent and 10 respectively for individuals and corporate entities.

In addition, the new withdrawal regime further pegged the maximum cash withdrawal per week via Automated teller Machine (ATM) at N100,000 subject to a maximum of N20,000 cash withdrawal per day while the maximum amount that can be withdrawn via the Point of Sale (POS) terminal was limited to N20,000 daily. 

The CBN Governor, in a letter written by the Deputy Governor, Corporate Services, Edward Adamu, said he is currently outside the country for an official assignment.

“Regrettably, the governor is unavailable to brief the House of Representatives at this time, because he has other scheduled official engagements he is currently addressing abroad,” the letter partially read. 

Emefiele further stated that he will communicate with the House on an appropriate date upon his return to the country. 

“The governor regrets this and will contact the House of Representatives as soon as he returns to the country from his official assignment,” it read. 

While reacting to the letter, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila questioned why the CBN governor will be outside the country for more than two weeks. He, therefore, stated that the CBN governor should make himself available as soon as he returns to the country.