Lawmakers suspend public hearing to review CBN bill

The Senate Committee on Banking, Insurance and Other Financial Institutions has postponed a scheduled public hearing on draft bills to amend the Central Bank of Nigeria and the Nigerian Deposit Insurance Corporation laws.

The committee made the announcement on Tuesday ahead of a hearing scheduled for Thursday.

On February 27, 2024, the Senate passed on second reading a bill to amend the CBN Act No. 7 of 2007 and on February 29, it read on second reading a bill to amend the NDIC Act No. 63 of 2023.

The Senate has referred both bills to the Committee on Banking, Insurance, and Other Financial Institutions for further legislative consideration.

Both bills were introduced by Mukhail Abiru, the chairman of the committee, and co-sponsored by 41 committee members.

Meanwhile, there are growing concerns that the amendment to the CBN Act could potentially undermine the central bank’s independence and damage investor confidence.

More details later…