CBN Reschedules MPC Meeting as Senate Begins Confirmation of D’Govs, Others

Damilola Oyedele in Abuja

In order to give the Senate time to conclude the process of screening and confirming President Muhammadu Buhari’s nominees for the post of deputy governors of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and members of the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC), the central bank has decided to postpone by a few days the meeting of the MPC originally slated for Monday and Tuesday next week.

The Senate wednesday referred the CBN nominees to its Committee on Banking and Financial Institutions and mandated the committee to begin the process of confirming them.

This followed the adoption of the communication from the president, requesting the Senate to confirm the nomination of the appointees.

Moving for the adoption of the request, Senate Leader Ahmed Lawan said the process was in accordance with Section 12(1)(4) of the CBN Act.

The President of the Senate, Dr. Bukola Saraki, gave the committee one week to consider the requests.

However, a senior official with the CBN informed THISDAY wednesday that a decision had been taken to postpone the meeting of the MPC by a few days in order to the give the Senate time to conclude the confirmation process.

He said: “Since the Senate Committee on Banking and Financial Institutions has been given one week to conclude its work, there is no way the Senate can conclude the confirmation process of the nominees before the meeting on Monday and Tuesday.

“So the meeting will be shifted by a few days and announced accordingly by the communications department of the Bank,” he said.

The nominees for deputy governorship posts in the central bank are Mrs. Aisha Ahmad and Mr. Edward Adamu, while the nominees to be considered for the MPC are Professor Adeola Festus Adenikinju, Dr. Aliyu Rafindadi Sanusi, Dr. Robert Chikwendu Asogwa and Dr. Asheikh A. Maidugu.

The Senate referral followed Tuesday’s resolution by the chamber to make a concession to consider and confirm the CBN nominees so as to ensure that the MPC forms the required quorum at its next meeting.

The MPC was unable to hold its meeting last January, as it could not form a quorum.

This arose from the July 2017 resolution of the Senate to suspend all confirmation processes for presidential nominees whose offices are not specifically listed in the 1999 Constitution.

The resolution was made after Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo, by his remark, deepened the rift between the Senate and the Executive over the rejection twice by the Senate of the nomination of Mr. Ibrahim Magu as Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

Reacting to the rejection, Osinbajo had said since the EFCC was not specified in the constitution, there was no need to have sent the nomination to the Senate in the first instance.

The Senate thereafter resolved to suspend consideration of all such nominees, pending the legal determination of its power of confirmation.

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