Members of the House of Representatives Committee on Banking and Currency, Wensday commenced a nationwide tour of all branches of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).

The lawmakers, who were at the CBN's Lagos Office, said that the visit was part of their oversight functions. The lawmakers also examined the on-going construction of a new central bank, Lagos office.

Chairman, House Committee on Banking and Currency, Mr. Jones Chukwudi Onyeriri, said members of the committee were on a tour of all the agencies under their supervision.

Onyeriri said: "What we are trying to do basically is to go to the branches and find out how your (CBN) working environment is, the challenges that you have in your branches and also to know how efficient or otherwise your members of staff are. "Basically, we believe that most of the output from the head office would be an aggregate of whatever input they get from the branches.

"If the branches are well-run, then you will expect that naturally, whatever decisions that they make from the head office, would be something that would strengthen the institution. Beyond all that, we are also going to look at your capital projects because funds have been allocated to these projects, and these funds are public funds. Therefore, it is within our purview to make sure that every money that has been allocated for these projects are well utilised."

The Branch Controller, CBN, Lagos, Mr. Chris Okpala, who welcomed the lawmakers, said the building project would be completed next year.

On his part, Project Coordinator, CBN, Lagos, Mr. B.O. Idowu, said the 22-storey building has 19 floors for administrative offices and three executive floors.

"The building is near completion and will be ready by middle of next year," he added.