The Human Rights Writers Association has called on the National Assembly to utilize its legislative authority to remove Godwin Emefiele, the governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, as a result of rising dissatisfaction with the Central Bank of Nigeria’s cash withdrawal policy.
The organization issued the demand in a statement on Sunday that was signed by Emmanuel Onwubiko, its national coordinator.
Onwubiko urged the National Assembly not to allow Emefiele to “destroy the economy with his draconian and anti-people fiscal and monetary policies.” The governor, according to Onwubiko, has displayed evidence of unredeemable hubris and flagrant contempt for constitutional norms.
The group argued that if the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd. ), could be impeached by the legislative arm, Emefiele should not be permitted to continue to tramp all over the National Assembly. They did this by citing the recently implemented withdrawal limit policy of the apex bank, which the group called “obnoxious.”
“HURIWA demand that National Assembly uses its powers to compel Emefiele to suspend the policy, besides, he is not bigger than all of Nigeria and if his monetary policy has the potential of destroying Nigeria and leading to job losses and other unintended consequences, he must be called to order as he is not more powerful than all of Nigerians.
“Rather than let Emefiele destroy the economy, the National Assembly should insist on him suspending the withdrawal limits that are draconian and anti-people. The National Assembly must act decisively and save PoS operators from going extinct, and creating opportunities for sophisticated crimes to escalate in an already charged and security threatened country.”
In addition, HURIWA criticized the President for not dismissing Emefiele despite his failure.
“Is Emefiele the sacred cow of Buhari? What business do both of them have together so much so that Emefiele has been left in office even after he has failed woefully and even ventured into partisan politics by wanting to run for President as a card-carrying member of the All Progressives Congress, reportedly purchasing campaign buses and even approaching the court to stop his removal for going into partisan politics even whilst holding his position as CBN governor? Emefiele can’t be allowed to get away with this arrogance of power.”
Individuals would be limited to weekly withdrawals of N100,000 from point of sale terminals, automated teller machines, or over the counter, according to a memo issued by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) on Tuesday. Organizations would be limited to weekly withdrawals of N500,000.
The CBN’s Director of Banking Supervision, Haruna Mustafa, signed a note instructing banks to only put N200 and lower denominations into their ATMs.
Using this as justification, a senior Nigerian lawyer named Yusuf Ali supported the CBN Governor’s choice, claiming that it would help the country’s economy recover.
Speaking with reporters in Ibadan, the capital of Oyo State, at his mother Taibat Ali’s turbaning ceremony as Iya Adini Musulumi of Carew Central Mosque, Ali said any measure that would revitalize the Nigerian economy and end fraud and corruption should be praised and supported.
He stated, “Any policy that will help us to revive our economy, address inflation, corruption and fraud should be supported.”
