Reps support new bill seeking to exclude serving bank executives from CBN top jobs

The House of Representatives has passed for second reading, a bill to provide for a five-year gap before the appointment of the Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer as well as the Executive-Director of a bank as Governor or Deputy Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).

The proposed legislative framework scaled through second reading on the floor of the House, few minutes after the Senate acknowledged receipt of President Muhammadu Buhari’s letter for the approval of Aishah Ahmad as CBN Deputy Governor and members of the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC).

The incumbent CBN Governor Godwin Emefiele and his predecessor, Sanusi Lamido Sanusi who were serving Executive Directors of Deposit Banks, were appointed by previous administrations to head the apex bank.

The bill seeks to amend the Central Bank of Nigeria Act, Cap. C4, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004, and divest the board of the powers of determining and fixing its own salaries and allowances and the powers of considering and approving the annual budget of the apex bank, was sponsored by Binta Bello and two other lawmakers.

It further seeks to amend Section 9 of the Principal Act by inserting a new sub-section to the effect that former CEOs and Executive Directors of Deposit banks will not be eligible for appointment into CBN, until after expiration of five years from their official their exit from the bank.

The bill also seeks that a person other than the Governor is made chairman of the CBN Board.

Proponents od the bill also canvasses to empower CBN Board to prepare and send a budget to the president, latest by September 30, for onward transmission to the National Assembly for approval.

In her lead debate, Bello explained that the proposed amendment was aimed at enhancing transparency, even as it will further promote the bank’s efficiency in the discharge of its statutory duties.

She said: “The lacuna in the current legal framework and regulatory framework in the CBN Act necessitated this amendment. There is dire need to fill the lacunea in the regulatory framework of the Central Bank.

“There is also need for the reinforcement of the CBN Act for efficient and effective management of our economy.”

Following the overwhelming support of the proposed amendment, Speaker Yakubu Dogara, who presided over the plenary session, referred the bill to the House Committee on Banking and Currency chaired by Jones Onyereri for further legislative action.

 

KEHINDE AKINTOLA, Abuja