By Ken Afor
Nigerian Senator, Adams Oshiomole, has questioned the level of capacity of the acting Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Yemi Cardoso and his deputies.
Oshiomole, a senator representing Edo North federal constituency, on Tuesday during the screening of Cardoso, opined that who ever will be appointed as the apex bank chief should be well equipped with the knowledge of how monetary policies work.
The two-time governor of Edo State while reacting to some of the nominees who managed banks that have gone into liquidation said it is undeserving to confirm their nominations.
The former national chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC) explained that the central is beyond marketing and maximising profit but it deals more with monetary policy.
The lawmaker said, “I want to differ very radically from what seems to be the general view. My view is I am suspicious of people whose main background comes from commercial banking because central banking is about policy. It’s not about marketing. It’s not about seeking profit. It’s about getting monetary policies right with a clear focus on specific macro-economic objectives. Whether it is job creation, stabilizing a price regime, interest regime, exchange rate regime, or all of that.
“Listening to their CVs, people who have managed banks that have gone into liquidation, that cannot be used as positive in their favour. The truth has to be told. I am not suggesting that any one of them is responsible.
“I am saying, that a doctor who parades the number of people who died under his care cannot forward that to me as a CV for me to appoint him as a surgeon general. I just need them to take note of that. But what we do in our small places of work, whether the survival of faith, goes to our credit, or discredit, so they should take note.”
Weighing in on the matter, Ndubisi Nwokoma, a professor of Financial Economics at the Department of Economics of the University of Lagos (UNILAG), who doubts the monetary policy content in Cardoso’s resume said the job of the governor of the central bank is beyond balancing books like what bankers do but it is about the totality of the economy.
“You must be able to look at the big picture of the economy, not just balance the books like the bankers would do.
“I think I have some little questions about the monetary policy content in his profile,” he said.
Indeed, it is believed that the suspended governor of the apex bank, Godwin Emefiele failed largely on account of the fact that he lacked a rigorous knowledge of and competencies in monetary policy.
It would be recalled that the suspended Governor of the CBN, Godwin Emefiele, prior to his appointment in June 2014 served was managing director of Zenith Bank Plc. He also served as executive director in charge of corporate banking, treasury, financial control and strategic planning in the bank. He was simply a traditional banker.
While Cardoso, a former Commissioner for Economic Planning and Budget for Lagos State until his appointment was a professional banker with decades of experience with Chase Merchant Bank, Citi Bank of Nigeria and Citizens International Bank which has since collapsed.
Given the parlous state of our economy, which is attributed largely to the appointment of pure bankers, bereft of sound policy, and intellectual background, many are quick to remember with nostalgia the glorious era of late Dr Clement Isong, second indigenous governor of CBN and Harvard University educated PhD in Economics. Dr Clement Isong who served as CBN governor during the regime of General Yakubu Gowon is remembered as one of the brains behind the economic prosperity and sound economy which characterized the Gowonian era.
Similarly, Prof Charles Soludo who once served as CBN governor was a distinguished professor of Economics who earned his Masters and PhD in Economics with sound understanding of monetary policy.
