The Senate on Wednesday passed a motion directing the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Mr. Godwin Emefiele, to appear before it to brief members on the state of the nation’s economy, especially the alarming naira depreciation.

This directive came from the upper chamber after an exhaustive debate on a motion moved by Senator Nazfiz Suleiman (Bauchi North) entitled: ‘The state of the economy: Naira depreciation and its implications’.

According to the senator,  the depreciation was the consequence of the negative cash flow, which he said resulted from the downward trend of oil prices, noting the inflationary consequence, which he said would affect an average Nigerian on the street.

He expressed worry that naira had depreciated in the last few months at a much faster rate than it appreciated over the last two years.

The senators also urged the Federal Government to step up efforts to diversify the nation’s economy to depend on taxation, agriculture, manufacturing, international tourism and solid mineral prospecting.

“The illicit fund flows and money laundering going through Nigerian financial system contribute in weakening the value of the naira, which has made the recent decisions of CBN to increase its vigilance to ensure that Nigeria banks are not used as conduit for illicit fund flow and money laundering in foreign currencies,” he said.

He stressed the need to regulate the demand and supply of foreign exchange by the CBN with various options in order to curtail naira depreciation and discourage speculation.

In his contribution, the Minority Whip, Senator Philip Aduda, blamed the downward slide in the value of naira on the inability of the Federal Government to put in place stable economic policies.

Senate President, Bukola Saraki, said all powers must be deployed to defend the naira and that the influx of foreign items into the country must be adequately curtailed in a way that the activities of currency speculators would be brought under control.