Speaker of the House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila on Monday asked a representative of the Central Bank of Nigeria’s Governor, Godwin Emeliefe, to leave a meeting with aviation stakeholders.

Gbajabiamila said it was incumbent on the Emefiele himself to be present at the meeting as the aviation issue was a matter of national importance.

He added that the importance and sensitivity of the meeting required the presence of the CBN governor.

Emefiele, who eventually walked into the meeting about 15 minutes later, gave reasons why he had to be represented before his eventual arrival.

In his remarks, Speaker Gbajabiamila said the nation was at a crucial moment as the shutdown by the airline operators amounts to a potential shutting down of the country.

“We cannot sit here and watch this happen,” he said.

“That is why the presence of the CBN governor is very important because his role is very critical to the resolution of this issue.”

Airline operators in the country had threatened to shutdown services on Monday over the high cost of aviation fuel.

Although the threat was called off on Sunday, Monday’s meeting was focused on finding a permanent solution to the issues raised by the aviation stakeholders. (Text, excluding headline: Channels TV)