Bayo Akinloye
Born July 28, 1960, Charles Soludo is independent-minded, many miles ahead of his peers, unrelenting in walking uncharted grounds with an ambitious vision.
As the man who is set to be the next Governor of Anambra State on the platform of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), Soludo appears more than prepared to marshal all available political and economic resources in the state.
His socio-economic and political wizardry is largely unparalleled.
When he was the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, he announced in July 2004, that the minimum capital requirement for banks would rise to N25 billion ($195 million) from the then minimum of N2 billion by the end of 2005, many observers thought him over-ambitious, if not foolhardy, said Euromoney. His consolidation policy reduced Nigeria’s 89 banks to 25 as part of a drive to increase liquidity.
“Yet just 20 months later, his action –and the chain of recapitalisations and mergers it heralded — has transformed Nigeria’s banking sector for the better and strengthened the country’s overall economic stability,” Euromoney had stated in 2006.
In 2007, Soludo sought another revolution: to re-denominate the naira, a policy that drew the ire of the then-President Umar Yar’Adua for not being carried along. Ultimately, the policy remained stillbirth.
“President Yar’Adua has spoken on the policy issue of the re-denomination of the naira for the good of the country. The CBN board accepts the suspension of the policy, having recognised and re-affirmed President Yar’Adua’s approving authority, especially as it relates to the re-denomination, forms, and design of the currency in line with the Section 19 of the CBN Act 2007,” said Soludo.
He added: “The CBN remains committed to President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua and his avowed goal of making Nigeria one of the 20 largest economies in the world by the year 2020. To this effect, the CBN is committed and ready to do all that is within its mandate and powers to accelerate Mr President’s agenda for a stronger Nigerian economy.”
From Aguata Local Government Area of Anambra, Soludo is set to take over the rein of power from Governor Willie Obiano.
A first-class graduate of Economics at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, Soludo undertook his postgraduate and doctorate degrees in Economics from the same university, winning the prize for the best graduating student on both occasions.
Soludo joined the federal government in July 2003, as the economic adviser to then-President Olusegun Obasanjo and the chief executive of the National Planning Commission (NPC).
He was the chairman/coordinator of the team that drafted Nigeria’s economic and social reform program (2003-2007), the National Economic Empowerment and Development Strategy (NEEDS).
He pioneered the collaborative planning framework in the Nigerian federation by initiating and assisting state governments in designing their State Economic Empowerment and Development Strategy (SEEDS).
He was the governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria between 2004 and 2009. During that period, Soludo refocused the central bank as an effective monetary authority and successfully implemented a fundamental restructuring that led to unprecedented consolidation of the Nigerian banking system.
On account of this, the Nigerian banking system was rated the fastest growing in Africa and one of the fastest-growing globally.
He also championed the establishment of the Africa Finance Corporation (AFC), a continental, private sector-driven investment bank.
He promoted the Financial System Strategy 2020 (FSS 2020), the blueprint to grow Nigeria’s financial system to become Africa’s financial hub and drive its economy into the global league of top 20 economies.
He was the winner of the Global and African Central Bank Governor of the Year in 2005, 2006, and 2007 by different international media institutions, including The Banker Magazine published by the Financial Times of London.
He has had a chequered political career. His shot (PDP ticket) at becoming the governor of Anambra was dealt a fatal blow at the poll by the then-APGA candidate Peter Obi, who emerged as the election winner.
In 2013, he resigned from the PDP and joined APGA ahead of the 2013 governorship election. The APGA Screening Committee disqualified him. In 2021, there is no killing the beetle: as it stands, the former CBN governor is leading the governorship race topping the log with 17 LGAs out of 19 as of the time of filing this report.
