With Senate’s Hurdle Cleared, Emefiele is Set to Step in

Mr. Godwin Emefiele

PROLOGUE

Omololu Ogunmade

After eagerly awaiting his confirmation by the Senate for one month, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Governor-designate, Mr. Godwin Emefiele, was finally asked to “take a bow” on Wednesday without a dissenting voice.

With that “bow and go” slogan which was accompanied by pronouncement of his confirmation, Emefiele took a major step towards registering his name in the roll call of governors of the apex bank. Clad in a black suit, white shirt and a green tie to match, Emefiele was ushered into the chamber accompanied by well wishers.

Within a moment, he was asked to move to the podium where he was grilled for almost two hours during which he itemised his plans for the CBN as federal government’s banker.
Before Senate began his screening that day, Senate President David Mark who chaired the Committee of the Whole, had given Emefiele a window of opportunity to share with the parliament any issue he deemed fit but which was not contained in his curriculum vitae.
However, little did Mark know that Emefiele was going to turn the presentation into a lecture as he went on and on reeling out his plans.

Indeed, for Emefiele, turning the legislative chamber into a lecture theatre was merely treading a familar terrain. Before becoming a banker, he was a lecturer after graduating from University of Nigeria (UNN) in 1984.After emerging as the best graduating student in Finance Department of UNN in 1984, Emefiele was retained by the university during which he taught as a member of the National Youth Service Corps in 1985. Thereafter, he obtained his masters degree at the institution in 1986 and later took up a lecturing job at the University of Port Harcourt in 1987.

The search for greener pasture soon led to his exit from the ivory tower. Following his arrival in Lagos, he joined the finance sector to actualise the knowledge he garnered as a finance student. It was in pursuit of this, that he later joined Zenith Bank in 1990, becoming the Deputy Managing Director of the organisation. In 2010, fortunes smiled on him as he emerged the managing director of the bank, a position which gave him the edge to secure presidential nomination as CBN governor-designate on February 20.

During his screening at the Senate, Emefiele told the lawmakers that he would work assiduously to ensure stability of the economic sector, reduce inflation and promote strong foreign exchange. He also promised to take monetary decisions aimed at improving economic development of the nation.

He said he would ensure that the CBN along with relevant stakeholders in finance sector jointly grow the economy through the adoption of a development banking model which would serve as a veritable tool for industrialisation.
Responding to a question on how relevant is cashless policy in the nation’s economy, Emefiele commended the policy by the CBN, saying it was good and important moreso that virtually all nations of the world had embraced the policy. He therefore said Nigeria as a big and notable economy could not afford to be left behind in this modern banking agenda.
He debunked insinuations of possible devaluation of the Naira when he assumes office, describing it as nothing but “a speculative attack on Naira.”

He also spoke extensively on what would be the thrust of his administration when he takes over in June. Not oblivious of the core mandate of the CBN which is to achieve monetary and price stability, build a strong foreign reserve, and ensure a strong financial system in Nigeria, Emefiele said, “On 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; where interest 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 and build a strong foreign reserve.”

Conscious of the alarming rate of unemployment in the country, he assured the lawmakers that if confirmed, his regime would ensure that whatever monetary policy decisions that would be taken would be those that would improve the level of employment in Nigeria. He said that would be done by working with the manufacturing companies to improve on their level of production.
“We know today that we have an employment emergency in Nigeria. And we must 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 also assured the lawmakers that the CBN and all stakeholders in the economy would play a central role towards ensuring the growth of the Nigerian economy through a stable environment. To achieve this, he said the Development Banking Model that had been tried and tested in different jurisdictions in the world, including some of the frontiers and emerging markets, would be adopted.
His presentation at the screening also showed that he had a clear idea of what should be the working relationship between the CBN and the Ministry of Finance. “The Central Bank of Nigeria is the monitoring 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,” he told the lawmakers.

His take on several other monetary issues also shows that he has a clear direction in which he wants the economy to take. By the time he completed his presentation, it was not difficult for him to secure a unanimous decision of the Senate to confirm his nomination. And with the Senate screening over, he is set to take charge of the apex bank in 64 days.