Nicholas Tofowomo, the Senator representing Ondo South in the Nigerian Senate, has called for the immediate arrest and prosecution of the Governor of Central Bank, Mr Godwin Emefiele for disobeying the resolution of the federal legislature.

Tofowomo on Saturday in a release noted that in his senatorial district for example, there were many unbanked residents with more than 300 communities not having access to commercial banks.

The Senate had urged the CBN on January 23, to extend the deadline for the exchange of old naira notes to May 31, 2023, and similarly directed the apex bank to open an exchange window for people that did not have bank accounts to deposit their old notes in exchange for new note. But the CBN governor failed to obey the Senate directive.

In the release, Tofowomo said the CBN Governor’s refusal had resulted to the untold hardships being faced by Nigerians over the scarcity of the new naira notes.

He said; “By now the CBN governor should be in prison for disobeying the Senate and dishonouring its resolution and causing naira scarcity. Imagine the scarcity of petrol and the rising inflation in the country, we still find it very difficult to have access to cash because Emefiele is lawless and proving very stubborn.

“As a sitting Senator, I was in the bank on Friday to apply for a little cash, but I didn’t get anything. My cheque was returned to me because the bank didn’t have enough new naira notes to pay customers. They told me they had paid out what they have for that day even though many customers were still inside the banking hall stranded and shouting.

“In my senatorial district, there are many unbanked residents. More than 300 communities do not have access to commercial banks. For the few with bank accounts, they will need to travel far to locate a bank. Thousands of residents are suffering now because they don’t have access to cash to feed their families and transact business. They submitted their old notes in line with the CBN directives by all means, but now, the CBN has failed to fulfil its part by providing new notes for them.

“Two heads are better than one, this issue was discussed extensively by Lawmakers who are the mouthpiece of the people across the various constituencies and senatorial districts in Nigeria and we took a position by directing the CBN to extend the deadline for the exchange of old naira notes to May 31, 2023, and we similarly urged the apex bank to open an exchange window for people that don’t have bank accounts to deposit their old notes in exchange for new note. Things wouldn’t have been this bad if Emefiele obey this directive.

“This situation must be arrested immediately. Buhari should sack Emefiele to douse the tension for the sake of this election. Emefiele should go. People are already saying this is a plan to cause a crisis to cancel the elections and install an interim government. I just hope this is not true,” the Senator said.