After months of stand-off between the Presidency and the National Assembly, reason seems to have prevailed, as Senate President Bukola Saraki, after a voice vote in support, on Tuesday directed the committee on Banking, Finance and Insurance to begin the process of screening the two Deputy Governor-nominees of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).
The committee chaired by Senator Rafiu Ibrahim, will also screen four nominees as members of the CBN’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC).
The committee which deliberates on and fixes the nation’s benchmark Monetary Policy Rate (MPC) upon which other rates in the economy are based, was unable to hold its first meeting for the year in January, because of the lack of quorum.
Saraki thanked his colleagues for their statesmanship, affirming the red chamber’s support for whatever will grow the Nigerian economy, investments, the ease of doing business and give confidence, while continuing to defend institutions and democracy.
After the screening and eventual approval, the MPC is expected to hold its first meeting for the year this month and perhaps an emergency one before the next regular meeting scheduled for May. This will ensure it is able to comply with the minimum number of meetings for the year.
The deputy governor-nominees to be cleared are Mrs. Aisha Ahmad, former executive director at Diamond Bank Plc, who was nominated by Muhammadu Buhari, in October 2017; and Edward Lametek Adamu from Gombe, who is currently Director of Human Resources at the apex bank.
While Mrs. Ahmad will replace Dr. Sarah Alade, who retired from the bank in May 2017, Adamu is to replace Suleiman Barau.
Nominees of the MPC scheduled for Senate confirmation are: Prof. Adeola Adenikinju (Energy Economist, University of Ibadan), Dr. Aliyu Sanusi (Associate Profession, Economics, Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria), Dr. Robert Asogwa (Team Leader, Inclusive Growth Unit of the United Nations Development Programme, Abuja); and Asheikh Maidugu (PhD holder in Development Economics and International Development, former lecturer in Economics at University of Maiduguri, former Chief Operating Officer at the Debt Management Office, now a Director at the Federal Inland Revenue Services).
Recall that the stand-off arose out of the insistence by the Presidency to keep Economic & Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) acting chairman, Mallam Ibrahim Magu as acting chairman, despite his non-confirmation by the Senate for second time.