I Am Going To Probe Lamido Sanusi..New CBN Governor Emefiele

At exactly 1:36pm yesterday, Group Managing Director of Zenith Bank Plc, Mr. Godwin Ifeanyi Emefiele became the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Governor-designate after Senate President David Mark hit the gavel as official seal for his confirmation.

There was no single ‘nay’ to his confirmation in the chamber.

President Goodluck Jonathan forwarded his nomination to the Senate on February 20, same day Sanusi’s suspension was announced.

Emefiele said yesterday that he would look into the expenditure profiles of the bank to unravel the circumstances that made the apex bank run a budget deficit of N266 billion last year.

Before the session started, and also, prior to his admission into the chamber, Chairman of the Committee on States and Local Governments, Senator Kabiru Ibrahim Gaya, sought to stop the process when he moved a motion through Order 53 (5) of the Senate Standing Orders (2011, as amended).

In the motion, Gaya reminded the Senate that, “the matter is in court. When the CBN governor was suspended, he went to court and Order 53 (5) bars us from moving ahead on this matter. Why not wait for the court case to be over? That’s my submission, sir.”

Mark replied him and thrice, he addressed him as “Distinguished senator.”

He said: “You’ve done your best and you’ve also been seen to have done your best by your constituency. Unfortunately, your best isn’t going to carry the day here.

“So, let me, and all of us, including you, take responsibility for the screening. Unfortunately, what’s before the court has nothing to do with what we are going to do now. So, I rule you out of order.”

Minority Whip Ganiyu Solomon (APC, Lagos) seconded a motion from Senate Leader Victor Ndoma-Egba (SAN) that the chamber’s rules be suspended to allow Emefiele access into the house. In the question and answer session which followed, 53-year-old Emefiele reeled out his roadmap for a revamped, new CBN.

He promised before senators to look into the CBN books as well as never to incur any illegal spending.

This was after Chairman of the Committee on Information, Media and Public Affairs, Sen. Enyinnaya Abaribe, asked him what he would do to address the N266 billion 2013 budget deficit of the CBN, last year. His words: “I will look into the budget expenditure components in the CBN, but I am aware that we have what is called the Operational Expenditure Profile as well as administrative expenditure profile.

“I think and I imagined, I suspect that more of the deficit would have come from areas that are pertaining to operational expenditure and if it is about operational expenditure,  it means that unfortunately, we cannot do anything about it because those were the expenditures that were incurred in the course of open market operation which is needed to ensure that we maintain a strong currency and ensure that we continue to have a good country…

“The core mandate of the CBN is to achieve monetary and price stability, ensure strong exchange rate and build foreign reserves. We will ensure that we have a sound financial system in Nigeria. We will work hard to achieve macro-economic stability in the country, where inflation rate will continue to come down. We will ensure that the interest rate continues to come down.

“During my tenure, whatever monetary policy decisions we take will be those that will lead to the improvement in the level of employment because employment is very crucial to national development,” Emefiele said.

On reports that the CBN spends over 25 per cent of the national budget without recourse to the National Assembly and how much he would spend in contravention of the Constitution, Emefiele replied: “I will not spend any money in contravention of the law.”

Thereafter, Senator Ita Enang took him up on the dollarisation of the Nigerian Naira. He replied: “One of the core mandates of CBN is to ensure that we maintain a legal tender and respect it and ensure that whatever is done, that our Naira has to be used as a legal tender.

“I will take it as a primary responsibility to ensure that the attempt to dollarise the Nigerian economy is discouraged. We should not allow it because it will create problem for the economy…”, he said.

The CBN governor-designate assured the chamber that he believes he has the requisite experience “to run the CBN around. I believe I can run the CBN. I believe that with my 27 years in the banking industry, I would be able to manage the task ahead.”

He also assured the lawmakers that the consolidation exercise of 2005 has helped to strengthen the banking industry against any global meltdown.