The House of Representatives has said it would not allow the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) put the economy of the country in danger.
The Green Chamber condemned the January 31 deadline for the acceptance of the old N200, N500 and N1000 notes as legal tender.
Hassan Ado-Doguwa, the Chairman of an ad-hoc committee, said the officials of the CBN were summoned to the legislative chamber but refused to appear.
The chairman said the officials of the apex bank must show up before the committee at 1 pm today.
Ado-Doguwa said: “We would not endanger our economy. We would also not allow anybody to endanger our economy.
“CBN must appear before this committee of the House of Representatives tomorrow (today) by 1 pm to discuss this very critical matter.
“It borders on the survival of our economy. It borders on the survival of our people.
“Businesses are shut down all over. Agriculture is suffering. Petty businesses in the villages are also suffering.
“I understand that in some places, even dowry and bride price are not being accepted. So, this is a serious issue.”
According to him, the CBN officials could not appear because the invitation letter got to them late.
“We have conceded to allow the CBN officials to come tomorrow (today) by 1 pm so that we would engage them.
“Immediately after the engagement with them, we would engage the bank operators,” he said.
Ado-Doguwa said the parliamentarians have constitutional right to summon and discuss with any official of the government on behalf of the people.
He continued: “None of us here is acting in his personal capacity, especially on a matter like this where Nigerian people and the economy are threatened by a lot of dangers by the policy of a government department.
“Those of us working for the Nigerian people cannot sit down here and watch policies of the government that are not popular threatening the survival of our economy to continue.
“This is the supreme institution of Nigeria’s democracy and I want to say without any fear of contradiction that for whatever policy the government is undertaking especially at a critical period like this, Nigerians must know and whoever is involved must know that definitely, the interest of the Nigerian people holds sway.
“So, there is no policy whatsoever that cannot be reversed, good or bad, as long as that policy or the reversal of that policy is going to be in the overall interest of Nigerians.”