Olayemi Cardoso has officially assumed office as the new Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), along with four new Deputy Governors: Nnana Usoro, Muhammad Abdullahi Dattijo, Philip Ikeazor, and Bala Bello. They have all taken over their roles in an acting capacity, pending confirmation by the Senate, according to a statement from the CBN.
The announcement comes on the heels of the forex crisis currently rocking the country, which requires utmost fiscal policies from the central bank to address.
Cardoso is to replace Folashodun Shonubi, who has been serving as the CBN governor in an acting capacity.
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President Bola Ahmed Tinubu nominated Cardoso to serve as the acting Governor of the CBN, along with the four new Deputy Governors, on September 22, 2023. Cardoso’s nomination came after the suspension of Godwin Emefiele from office approximately three months before the announcement.
The Cardoso-led team has assumed leadership of the central bank following the resignations of Godwin Emefiele, Shonubu, and the other deputy governors, as confirmed by the CBN in its statement issued on Friday.
“Dr. Olayemi Michael Cardoso, recently nominated by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, has on Friday, September 22, 2023, formally assumed duty, in an acting capacity, as the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), pending his confirmation by the Senate. This follows the resignation of Mr. Godwin Emefiele as Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN),” the statement said.
“Deputy-Governors-Designate have also assumed duty, in acting capacities, sequel to the formal resignation of Mr Folashodun Shonubi, Mrs Aishah Ahmad, Mr Edward Lametek Adamu, and Dr Kingsley Obiora as Deputy Governors of the CBN,” it added.
Olayemi Cardoso and the other new appointees officially assumed their roles after taking the relevant oaths of office in a brief ceremony held at the CBN’s Head Office in Abuja on Friday, September 2023. They have now begun their responsibilities related to administering monetary and financial sector policies for the Federal Government, as stated in the CBN’s announcement.
The wait for the confirmation of the newly-appointed CBN governor, Cardoso, and his deputies has been linked to the abysmal performance of the naira in the parallel market this week. The gap in decision-making that it created is believed to have impacted the CBN’s supply to the FX market, opening an N217 exchange rate gap between the parallel market and the I&E window. The naira was trading at N955/$1 in the parallel market, and N738/$1 in the Investor & Exporter window on Friday.
Following their assumption, the governor and his deputies are expected to tackle the FX crisis head-on. Although the Finance Minister, Wale Edun, said to boost FX liquidity, Nigeria needs to clear the $6.8 billion in overdue forward payments in the foreign exchange market, sound monetary and financial sector policies by the CBN are expected to ameliorate the situation.