By Dipo Olowookere
On Monday, there were rumours that Mr Godwin Emefiele had been removed as Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) by President Muhammadu Buhari.
These rumours, which went viral on social media, forced the CBN to quickly clarify that Mr Emefiele was still in charge of the apex bank in Nigeria.
Mr Emefiele, who was appointed by former President Goodluck Jonathan in 2014, will complete his first five-year term in office on June 3, 2019. However, he can be reappointed by the President for another final second term of five years. One problem is that most of the past CBN Governors only served a term and he is not likely to break this age-long jinx.
As it stands, observers have started putting up names of those that may likely succeed Mr Emefiele in office in June 2019, a month into President Buhari’s second term in office.
One of the prominent names already tipped to become the next CBN chief is Mrs Aishah Ahmad, who was appointed by President Buhari as a CBN Deputy Governor in October 2017 and five months later, precisely in March 2018, her appointment was confirmed by the Senate.
Mrs Ahmad, before her appointment, was the Head, Consumer and Privilege Banking at Diamond Bank.
She is an accountant, financial analyst and financial manager, who had once worked under Mr Emefiele at Zenith Bank, heading the Retail Banking sector of the tier one lender.
Mrs Ahmad, who hails from Niger State and is married to Brigadier-General Abdallah Ahmad (rtd), is believed to have been positioned to take over the plum job, being from the northern extraction.
This was corroborated by analysts at United Capital Research, who opined that the position seems to have rotated across the four major geopolitical regions of the country in the last 20 years (Dr Joseph
Sanusi (S/West) 1999-2004, Prof. Charles Soludo (S/East) 2004-2009, Sanusi Lamido (N/West) 2009-2014, Mr Godwin Emefiele (S/South) 2014 till date), predicting that the new CBN Governor will likely come from the S/West or the North, if the traditional rotation continues.
Commenting further, they argued more importantly, professional background will play a prominent role in determining who becomes the next CBN chief, tipping Dr Adesola Adeduntan (MD of FBN Ltd), Mr Herbert Wigwe (Access Bank CEO) and Mr Bello Maccido, (ex-CEO FBNH/Chairman of FBN Quest) to be favoured for the job.
“Overall, the direction of monetary policy and the stability of the financial system will, to a large extent, depend on the economic views and policy inclinations of the next CBN governor,” the report said.
