Former Deputy Governor of the CBN, Adebayo Adelabu opines that the monetary policies of the apex bank will be given serious consideration if there is a body it reports to.
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A ministerial nominee from Oyo State, Adebayo Adelabu, has voiced his concern over a lack of proper supervision of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) by the economic management team of the Federal Government.
Adelabu on Tuesday, emphasised the need for improved oversight to avoid competition between the CBN and the government’s economic agency when he appeared before the Senate for the screening exercise.
He suggested that decision-making committees at the apex bank be restructured to ensure greater independence, particularly in the appointment of Deputy Governors. The nominee also proposed that relevant ministries have oversight of the CBN’s decisions, which would encourage more thoughtful consideration of policies.
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“There are three decision-making committees at the CBN and the governor is the Chairman of each of the committees. They are the Committee of Governors, the Monetary Policy Committee, and the Board of Directors.
It is good and there is nothing bad with it because all over the world the independence of the CBN must be guaranteed, and the governor is just first among equals. There are four Deputy Governors. We must ensure that the appointment of the Deputy Governors is independent of the CBN governor, so that they are not subservient to the governor.
The national economic management team – the Ministers of Finance and Budget and National Planning, the Accountant-General of the Federation, and other relevant ministries must have some subtle oversight on decisions made by the CBN.
If CBN knows that there is a body to which it will report on the allocation of foreign exchange, for instance, its decision on monetary policy and interest rates will be given more serious consideration,” he said.
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Presiding Officer, Senator Godswill Akpabio acknowledged the lack of proper monitoring of the CBN, as pointed out by Adelabu while highlighting the necessity to review the Act setting up the CBN for better supervision.
“This is a good thought for Senators and that means that we must revisit the Act setting up the CBN. Probably, we may not have been where we are now if we had a proper monitoring of the CBN by the Act itself,’’ Akpabio stated.
Nine other ministerial nominees screened on the same day include Senator David Umahi (Ebonyi), Olawale Edun (Ogun), Nasir El-Rufai (Kaduna), Ahmed Dangiwa (Katsina State), Uche Nnaji (Enugu State), Stella Okotete (Delta), Ekperikpe Ekpo (Akwa (Ibom) and Hannatu Musawa (Katsina).
