House Makes U-Turn on Islamic Banking

Aminu Tambuwal, House Speaker

Perhaps worried by the barrage of criticisms that trailed the seeming endorsement given by the House of Representatives on Islamic banking and cash withdrawal limit last Thursday, the lower chamber has reversed its position on the proposed policies.
The House said Tuesday that its acceptance of the presentation made by the Governor of Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Mallam Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, on the two issues was neither an endorsement nor acceptance of the policies.
Sanusi had appeared before the House to explain the controversial policies, but his explanation had ended in a monologue, as the lawmakers were not allowed to ask questions on the policies. 

The change of position by the lawmakers is coming just as the Anambra State government has faulted a portion of Sanusi’s briefing wherein he alleged that the state was the first to obtain a loan from the Islamic Development Bank.
Leader of the Anambra Parliamentary Caucus in the House, Hon. Uche Ekwunife, said Sanusi misled the House and the entire world when he alleged in the presentation on the Islamic banking policy that Anambra State took a loan from the Islamic Development Bank.

She presented to the chamber a letter from the Anambra State Ministry of Finance and Budget to support the position of the state. The letter signed by the Commissioner for Finance, Mr. Eze Echesi, said the state did not at any time take any loan from the Islamic Development Bank and did not at any time make any contact whatsoever with the said financial institution.

Deputy Speaker Emeka Ihedioha said the letter of protest should be laid formally before the House, but cautioned that the lower chamber should not allow the controversies arising from the policies of the CBN to distract it from its legislative agenda.
Ihedioha directed the Ad hoc Committee on Rules and Business to make copies of the letter available to every member, while the Ad hoc Committee on Media and Public Affairs was asked to address the complaint of another lawmaker that the image of the House had been battered in some media commentaries on the controversial policies.

Chairman, Ad hoc Committee on Media and Publicity, Hon. Bamidele Opeyemi, who briefed newsmen shortly after the plenary, said though the lawmakers applauded Sanusi’s presentation, their action was not an endorsement of the policies.
Opeyemi acknowledged that over a hundred lawmakers raised their hands seeking more clarification on the policies, the decision by the deputy speaker not to allow questions was deliberate to avoid turning the chamber into a battle ground and heating up the polity.
He said such engagement would be better handled at the committee level.

In the same vein, a member of the House, Hon. Bello Kaoje, has warned the CBN against the dangers of forcing the policies on the populace and advised the apex bank to provide sufficient enlightenment on them and allow Nigerians to make their choice.
Kaoje, representing Bagudo/ Suru Federal Constituency of Kebbi State, expressed his views during an interaction with newsmen in Abuja Tuesday.

He said that for the proposed policies to succeed, the CBN must be prepared to carry all strata of the Nigerian public along through sustained enlightenment, campaigns designed to highlight the advantages of the policies to the citizenry.
The lawmaker said that without adequate enlightenment campaign, the policies, laudable as they might appear, might fail to achieve their desired results.
Meanwhile, the General Secretary of the Nigerian Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs (NSCIA), Dr. Abdul-Lateef Adegbite, has disowned Dr. Ibrahim Datti Ahmad over his recent comment that Muslims were ready to go to war if Islamic banking was not allowed to operate in the country.

Adegbite described the statement as his (Ahmad’s) personal view and does not reflect the view or position of the council.
Commenting on the controversy generated by Ahmad’s statement, Adegbite while answering questions from journalists at the two-day National Stakeholders’ Summit on Security and Public Awareness, in Abuja, said the purported statement was a personal opinion which should not be seen as official statement from the council.

He however noted that the concept of Islamic banking was a genuine one, which is practised globally and should not be seen as a tool for Muslim domination of the country.
He said: “About 16 countries in Africa are already practising Islamic banking. The first Islamic bank, Jaiz, that is coming on board has so many non-Muslims on its board. Anybody can go to the bank and buy into it. No discrimination whatsoever. People are just being naïve and ignorant.”

He however emphasised that such controversial statements was the opinion of an individual.
“Don’t bring me into that. Everybody is entitled to his opinion. That does not represent the opinion of the council,” he said.
Ahmad had told journalists in Kaduna last weekend that, “Jaiz bank has come to be and there is nothing they (Christian leaders) can do about it and if we have to go to war on this, we’ll go to war”, adding that, “let those wearing cassocks stop disturbing our peace.

Gentlemen (journalists), being peaceful doesn’t mean we are cowards. We warn them to stop disturbing our peace if they want us to live together in Nigeria. Everybody can go his way; we don’t have to live together. We can’t live under people dictating to us how we should live our lives even within the laws of the country.

“Whatever they call themselves, whether archbishops, priests or whatever they are, let them stop disturbing our lives. We have had enough; let the government warn them because these abuses are enough. We have been patient but there is a limit to what we can take. On this Jaiz bank, there is no going back. Everything has been done according to the law.”