On Wednesday, January 31, the Senate called Dr. Olayemi Cardoso, Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), to testify before it on Tuesday next week to discuss the health of the economy and the Naira’s wild decline.
Senator Tokunbo Abiru (APC- Lagos East), Chairman of the Senate Committee on Banking, Insurance, and Other Financial Institutions, issued the summons following a panel meeting in Abuja.
Speaking to reporters after the Committee’s emergency meeting behind closed doors, Abiru stated that the Senate was deeply concerned about the status of the nation’s economy, particularly the inflation index.
Abiru said:
“We have held a meeting this afternoon essentially to focus on the direction of the Nigerian economy.
“We are all living witnesses of what is going on. Underlining the major issue of the economy is the way the inflation index has been and of course, it is a major concern to us.
“We have deliberated among ourselves. Critical issues were addressed and we believe that the next line of action is to summon the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria on Tuesday at 3 pm to brief us properly on the state of the economy.
“That we have resolved and will communicate to the Governor of the Central Bank after which we will have further communication with members of the press.”
The Naira was said to have plummeted to about N1,500.00 to the US dollar as at the time of filing this report.