• ’Emefiele vows to probe apex bank’s expenditure• ‘Minor’ files lost in Lagos office fire incident
THE Senate Wednesday confirmed the appointment of Godwin Emefiele as governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN). It also confirmed Justice Zainab Adamu Bulkachuwa as Appeal Court President.
Senate President, David Mark, at the end of the exercise noted that the number of hours spent on the screening and confirmation of both Bulkachuwa and Emefiele was a clear indication of the importance the Senate attached to their offices.
“The two people involved are very distinguished Nigerians and our prayers would go with them that Justice Bulkachuwa would deliver justice on time and Emefiele would ensure that he carries out the prescribed responsibilities of the Governor of the Central Bank without fear or favour,” Mark said.
The much-awaited screening of Emefiele, considering the controversy surrounding the suspension of CBN Governor, Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, over missing oil funds, lasted over two hours as lawmakers posed challenging questions to the governor-designate.
Meanwhile, the CBN has assured that no sensitive file was lost in the fire that engulfed its over 50-year-old office building in Lagos on Tuesday, except ‘minor ones.’
Acting Governor of CBN, Dr. Sarah Alade, who made the disclosure yesterday, said it was imperative to state clearly what was lost to forestall speculations, especially the ones that are already making the rounds.
Speaking with journalists after inspecting the affected building, Alade said that the fire affected the first floor of the building, which housed the Branch Support Office and “one or two administrative rooms.”
“The few files lost were minor as the bank had effective backups under its disaster recovery system,” she assured.
Indications had emerged on Tuesday that the affected department underwent electrical re-installation in the last few weeks.
Emefiele’s confirmation came just after the Senate President, warned senators against fraternising with nominees sent by the President, pointing out that such practices were very injurious to the image of the Senate.
Mark said: “We don’t have to follow the nominees out of the chamber. Please, we should sit where we are and if you want to see them later on, we can do so.
“The way we follow to go and take pictures and all that is not the best for elder statesmen who are our senators. I want to appreciate your co-operation in that aspect.”
Answering questions at the Senate, Emefiele said he would investigate the various expenditure components of the bank to know how exactly the deficit became inevitable.
He said: “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 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.”
He, however, assured the Senate and Nigerians at large that if approved, his own regime as the CBN governor would not spend any money in contravention of the law.
Emefiele also expressed dismay about the preference for dollar to the use of naira. He decried that the development could cripple the country if not checked.
His words: “On the issue of dolarisation of naira, I think 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 dolarise the Nigerian economy is discouraged. We should not allow it because it will create problems for the economy.”
In the course of the screening, he also pledged to uphold core mandate of CBN and ensure that his administration implements monetary policy geared towards economic recovery.
He said: “I am aware that the core mandate of the Central Bank of Nigeria is to achieve monetary and price stability. Another core mandate of the CBN is to ensure that we build a very strong foreign reserve. We are also expected to ensure that we have a strong financial system in Nigeria.
“At the back of this mandate, we would work very hard to ensure that we achieve macro-economic stability in this country where inflation rate shall be seen to continue to come down and where we would as much as possible, continue to maintain a strong exchange rate for the country.
“We will ensure that whatever decisions we take at the CBN in the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) would be those that would lead to improvement in the level of employment in Nigeria.”
Emefiele equally promised a cordial relationship between the apex bank and the Ministry of Finance towards ensuring economic growth.
“The Central Bank of Nigeria is the monetary authority whereas the Ministry of Finance is the fiscal authority. It is important that in their relationship, they must work in one direction.
“They must push in one direction. If we push in opposite directions, what you will find is that we are not going to be able to achieve economic growth and development that we are talking about.
“It is important that both the Ministry of Finance and the Central Bank move in one direction. If the decision is that we should pursue a conventional policy, both the Central Bank and the Ministry of Finance should be seen to move in one direction.
Emefiele, who answered questions to the admiration of the senators, expressed optimism that having managed banks for over 27 years; he has acquired a wealth of experience to bear on the macro banking demands of the CBN office.
On her part, Justice Bulkachuwa made a case for proper funding of the Judiciary.
She said: “On the funding of the Judiciary, this is a very serious issue with us. We are the biggest court in the country. We have 90 justices as of now. We have 16 divisions of the Court of Appeal. But our budget this year is N10.1 billion.
“The Justices have their salaries and allowances that should be charged on the consolidated revenue fund. So, if you take that out of the N10.1billion, what are you left with?
“Then we need courts and houses for our Justices and so many houses of the Justices that are dilapidated, they are out of fashion.
“Like the ones in Lagos, they are the old colonial houses that were given to our Justices since the Supreme Court days because we inherited both the houses and the courts from the Supreme Court.
“We cannot renovate them because we lack the funds to do that. Some of our houses are in a sorry state. If our Justices are comfortable, I assure, you have the best set of judges in Nigeria”.
Godwin I. Emefiele, from Agbor, Delta State, served as Chief Executive Officer and Group Managing Director, Zenith Bank Plc. Mr. Emefiele served as Deputy Managing Director of Zenith Bank Plc since 2001.
He served as Executive Director in charge of Corporate Banking, Treasury, Financial Control and Strategic Planning of Zenith Bank Plc and had been in the management team since inception. Mr. Emefiele has over 18 years of banking experience.
Emefiele served as Director at Zenith Bank Plc and Zenith Bank (Gambia) Limited. Before commencing his banking career, he has lectured on Finance and Insurance at the University of Nigeria Nsukka and University of Port Harcourt, respectively.
He also served as Director of ACCION Micro-finance Bank Limited. He is also an alumnus of Executive Education at Stanford University, Harvard University (2004) and Wharton Graduate Schools of Business (2005).
Emefiele holds a B.Sc degree in 1984 and an MBA degree in Finance in 1986, both from the University of Nigeria, Nsukka.
Also yesterday, the Senate Committee on Banking and Insurance also screened Mr. Adebayo Adelabu Adeyinka who had been nominated to occupy the position of Deputy Governor in the apex bank.
But his confirmation would wait till the committee submits report to that effect to the Senate.
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