Senate calls on CBN Gov to discuss economy, seeks cooperation with Germany on security and power
The 10th Senate of Nigeria has proposed that Nigeria and Germany work together in the fields of power and security in order to further Nigeria’s socio-political development. Olayemi Cardoso, the governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), was summoned by the red chamber’s committee on Banking, Insurance, and Other Financial Institutions to appear before it on Tuesday of next week regarding the status of the economy and the free flow of Naira on the foreign exchange market.
When Senate President Godswill Akpabio and a few of his colleagues hosted German Ambassador to Nigeria Annette Gunther in his office on Wednesday, the German government was contacted by the Senate.
Akpabio made the request for cooperation and advice from Germany in the areas of security and power generation, according to a statement released by Mr. Jackson Udom, Special Assistant to the Senate President on Media. He stated that he saw a much stronger relationship between Nigeria and Germany during her term as ambassador and expressed no doubt that Nigeria would have a very strong relationship with Germany.
The Nigerian Parliament would be happy to work with President Bola Tinubu’s administration to strengthen ties between Nigeria and Germany, Akpabio added, while also expressing the desire for Nigeria to improve those ties. He continued by saying that they would take whatever necessary legal or legislative action to enable the majority of the policies and initiatives she is launching with the government, and that they also wanted more German businesses to join those that were already operating in Nigeria.
Sen. Akpabio stated that they were therefore taking Nigeria’s security very seriously and that they thought many young people would be gainfully employed as more businesses came in to establish themselves in Nigeria and created more job opportunities. Additionally, he made an appeal to Germany to become more involved in helping to resolve most of the war in conflict-prone areas, like the current Gaza situation and the crisis involving Russia and Ukraine.
The German Envoy replied by assuring his hosts of Germany’s commitment to helping Nigeria overcome its security and power challenges. She also added that, as the two countries with the largest economies and populations on their respective continents, Germany and Nigeria must cooperate for the benefit of their respective peoples.
“President Bola Ahmed Tinubu frequently brings up the Siemens energy project, and hopefully this will be our tiny way of making the nation’s electrical system better. She emphasized how active Germany is in a number of areas, including energy and climate change.
She continued by saying that the security situation in Nigeria is concerning to both Germany and Nigeria, adding that they have taken it up because it is essential to the advancement of humankind, socioeconomic growth, and peace.
When the Naira fell to N1,520 to the US dollar recently, the Committee on the Mansion of the CBN Governor, chaired by Senator Adetokunbo Abiru (APC Lagos East), decided to call a meeting to summon the governor.
“We have held a meeting this afternoon essentially to focus on the direction of the Nigerian economy,” Senator Abiru said following the meeting behind closed doors. He highlighted that the lawmakers were very concerned about the state of the economy, particularly the inflation index. Each of us is a living witness to the events taking place. The way the inflation index has been, which is obviously of great concern to us, highlights the main problem with the economy.
We have talked it over amongst ourselves. The Central Bank governor should be called on Tuesday at 3 p.m. to provide us with an accurate briefing on the status of the economy, we believe, after important issues were addressed. that we have made up our minds and will let the Central Bank governor know, following which we will speak with the media once more.
