CBN Board: Buhari Sends Five Nominees to Senate

By Dipo Olowookere

President Muhammadu Buhari on Wednesday sent a letter to the Senate, seeking their approval to appoint five non-executive directors for the board of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).

The confirmation of appointment of the nominees is in accordance with Sections 6(1) (d) and 10(1) and (2) of the CBN Act, 2007.

At the plenary yesterday, the Senate President, Mr Bukola Saraki, read the letter from Mr Buhari to his colleagues.

He said those the President nominated for screening for the CBN board were Professor Ummu Ahmed Jalingo (North East), Professor Justitia Odinakachukwu Nnabuko (South East), Professor Mike Obadan (South South), Dr Abdu Abubakar (North West), and Mr Adeola Adetunji (South West).

At the red chamber yesterday, the Senate Majority Leader, Mr Ahmad Lawan, moved the motion for the screening of the nominees, while Minority Leader, Mr Godswill Akpabio, seconded it.

Thereafter, the Senate President referred the screening of the nominees to Committee on Banking, Insurance and other Financial Institutions, mandating its Chairman, Mr Rafiu Ibrahim, to report back in two weeks.

Recall that on Wednesday, April 12, 2017, Special Adviser to the President Media & Publicity, Mr Femi Adesina, had in a statement disclosed that Mr Buhari sent the same five nominees to the Senate for confirmation.

However, because of a faceoff between the executive and the Senate, the nominees were not attended to.

Two weeks ago, Business Post reported that Senator Shehu Sani appealed to his colleague to, on a passionate ground, quickly screen nominees of the CBN board.

According to him, “Nigeria’s central bank is the only in Africa without a board and when you don’t have a board, you limit the ability and capacity to manage the institution.”

Continuing, Mr Sani had said, “The CBN plays an important role in our economy by managing banks and checking how they function properly.”

He described the central bank as “one of the most important parts of the economy.”

“I am aware of the issue with the screening of nominees from the executive, but I want to appeal that we look into the CBN board,” he said.

The lawmaker commended the great works the CBN has done recently, saying the apex bank has “made some progress in stabilising the economy, the Naira and growing our foreign reserves.”

However, he reminded his colleagues that “our work as legislature would be assisted if the CBN has a board that can oversee its operations, ensuring banks adhere to the rules and regulations.”

“The absence of the CBN board has not made banks function well. I appeal to the Senate to screen and if possible, approve nominees of the CBN board so that the economy can continue to grow,” he had submitted.