PRESIDENT Bola Tinubu has nominated Olayemi Cardoso to be the Central Bank of Nigeria’s (CBN) new Governor.
According to a statement issued by presidential spokeswoman Ajuri Ngelale, If confirmed by the Senate, he will succeed CBN Acting Governor Folashodun Shonubu.
“President Bola Tinubu has approved the nomination of Dr. Olayemi Michael Cardoso to serve as the new Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), for a term of five (5) years at the first instance, pending his confirmation by the Nigerian Senate,” the Friday statement added.
Aside from the Lagos-born Cardoso, Tinubu also appointed four deputy governors for the apex bank.
Ajuri said the move is in “conformity with Section 8 (1) of the Central Bank of Nigeria Act, 2007, which vests in the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, the authority to appoint the Governor and Four (4) Deputy Governors for the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), subject to confirmation by the Senate of the Federal Republic of Nigeria”.
He said the directive is in line with Tinubu’s Renewed Hope agenda with the Nigerian leader expecting them to “successfully implement critical reforms at the Central Bank of Nigeria”.
The appointments come months after President Tinubu appointed Shonubi as acting governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria. Prior to his current position, he was the bank’s deputy governor in charge of the operations department.
His new position comes on the heels of Godwin Emefiele’s suspension as CBN governor.
“This is a sequel to the ongoing investigation of his office and the planned reforms in the financial sector of the economy,” the Director of Information, Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation Willie Bassey said while confirming Emefiele’s suspension.
Emefiele was initially arrested by the Department of State Services (DSS) but later released on bail.
He however faced a backlash at the tail end of his tenure owing to the naira swap/redesign policy of ex-President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration.
The initiative caused a cash crunch in the country with several Nigerians taking to the streets in protest against the move in the leadup to the 2023 general elections.
While the CBN withdrew the old currency notes and insisted on the use of the new banknotes, it took a Supreme Court order for the bank to allow the usage of new and old naira notes.
Tinubu had in his campaigns criticised the policy, promising to reverse it if elected, saying it “was too harshly applied”.
He made good on that vow during his inauguration, telling Nigerians that his “administration will treat both currencies as legal tender”.
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