. Postpones meeting with CBN Governor, Cardoso, till Friday
The Senate on Tuesday, February 6, summoned President Bola Tinubu’s economic team over the falling Naira and dwindling economy.
The upper chamber had last Friday summoned the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Dr. Olayemi Cardoso, to appear before over the same issue on Tuesday.
However, the Senate on Tuesday varied its summon of the CBN governor, saying both the apex bank helmsman and the economic team would now appear before it on Friday by 9.00 am.
Members of the economy team include Minister of Finance, Olawale Edun, Minister of State for Budget and Economic Planning, Atiku Bagudu, CBN Governor Cardoso, Chairman of the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), Zacch Adedeji and Comptroller General of the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), Bashir Adewale Adeniyi, among others.
The Chairman Senate Committee on Banks, Insurance and Other Financial Institutions, Senator Adetokunbo Abiru, said the panel’s scheduled meeting with the CBN Governor for Tuesday could no longer be held because of Cardoso’s engagement at the House of Representatives.
The panel decided after one hour of waiting for Cardoso to no avail.
Abiru said: “So that is how come this (meeting) has been somehow delayed and the sense is that perhaps they are just rounding up and we don’t know exactly when they will be done to be frank.
“On our part too, we also believe that we should be rational and in terms of trying to see reasons, we put our brothers in the House of Reps and the sisters in the House of Reps and of course the CBN Governor.
“To that extent, it will appear that on our part, we’ll have to adjourn until Friday the 9th of February.
“The reason too, I think I should explain is that tomorrow there is a session with the Service Chiefs, and of course, that might extend till Thursday because they are issues of very serious concern to us.
“So in order to play safe and have enough time to also interact properly with the economic team in this instance, meaning that we might extend the invitation beyond the governor to also include members of the economic team.
“So on that note, we have resolved, and I would like to invite one of my colleagues to move the motion to adopt the decision to postpone this session.”
(The Nation)