Nigerian Senate Monday pledged to support the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) in its efforts geared towards taking the country out of the current economic crises.
Reiterating the support of the Senate, Rafiu Adebayo Ibrahim, chairman, Senate Committee on Banking, Insurance and other financial institutions, said the current recession era called for a closer collaboration between the CBN and the Senate.
Ibrahim, who gave the assurance during his Committee’s oversight visit to the nation’s apex bank Monday in Abuja, while commending the policies of the CBN, expressed the optimism and readiness of the Senate to support the bank.
Addressing newsmen after the meeting, the chairman said, “It was a normal routine oversight visit, a friendly one for that matter. It is for us to rub mind with CBN as the Treasurer of the nation, for us to know how far they have gone with their assignment. How much you want us to still continue to partner with you and especially at this time we are officially in recession, we believe that we have to work more together than before.”
Giving further details of their meeting with the management of CBN, Ibrahim said they discussed about the bailout funds to states, adding that the bank’s management also told them what they had done and that they requested for a detailed hardcopy report about the bailout.
“We are very satisfied with the meeting. We exhausted all issues presented. We were not in a hurry. All questions were addressed. We are now more enriched about the operations of CBN and our own role is to help the institution to perform their duty effectively for Nigeria to function very well,” he said.
In his remarks, Godwin Emefiele, governor, CBN, while commending the Senate for their support, said he was very delighted that the Senate had worked very closely with the CBN, receiving constant briefings about their activities and the things that they had done to lift the country from the current situation to prosperity.
“I must confess that yes it is difficult, but I must say that the challenges are surmountable. We will continue to crave the support of your Committee and the Senate just like you have done in the past, to ensure that we work together to achieve the common objective of uplifting Nigeria and make the country a habitable place for Nigerians,” Emefiele said.
Source: Businessday Online
