Senate Confirms Two CBN Deputy Governors, MPC Members

By Dipo Olowookere

The Nigerian Senate on Thursday confirmed the appointment of two deputy governors of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).

The two deputy governors, Mrs Aisha Ahmad and Mr Edward Lametek Adamu, were screened by the upper parliament after they were nominated for the positions last year by President Muhammadu Buhari and sent to the Senate for confirmation.

But the exercise was delayed by the parliament due to a disagreement with the executive on the acting chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Mr Ibrahim Magu, who the lawmakers demanded for his removal.

The Senate said it would not screen any nominee from the executive until Mr Magu was shown the way out of office.

When the executive did not shift ground, the Senate refused to screen the two deputy governors of the apex bank and four members of the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) sent forward for confirmation.

This made it impossible for the CBN to hold its first MPC meeting in January 2018 because it could not form a quorum of six t make the meeting legal.

But some days ago, a member of the upper parliament appealed to his colleagues to allow the nominees be screened to allow for the next MPC meeting to hold so that economic decisions could be made to fast track recovery.

The next MPC meeting was supposed to hold this week, but the apex bank shifted the date to April 3 in anticipation that the nominees would be cleared before then.

Last week, the Senate agreed to shift ground and directed its committee on Banking, Insurance and other Financial Institutions led by Mr Rafiu Adebayo, to screen the nominees.

While presenting his report at the plenary, Mr Adebayo informed his colleagues that the nominees had been cleared by the police, the Code of Conduct Bureau and the Directorate of State Services (DSS) and that they were academically qualified to hold the positions.

“Having been satisfied with their academic, professional qualification and competence, work experience and character of these two nominees, the committee hereby recommend that the Senate do confirm Mrs Aisha Ahmad and Mr Edward Lametek as Deputy Governors of the Central Bank of Nigeria,” the lawmaker said.

The Senate President, Mr Bukola Saraki, who presided over the sitting, after a voice vote, confirmed the appointment of Mrs Ahmad and Mr Adamu as CBN deputy governors.

He also confirmed the appointment of Festus Adenikinju, Aliyu Rafindadi Sanusi and Robert Chinwendu Asogwa into the MPC.