Senate confirms Cardoso, others as chairman, members of Monetary Policy Committee

The Senate on Thursday confirmed the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Mr Olayemi Cardoso, as the Chairman of the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) of the apex bank.

The upper legislative chamber also confirmed the appointment of four deputy governors of the CBN and seven others as members of the MPC.

The Senate confirmed the 12 nominees after considering the report of the Committee on Banking, Insurance, and Other Financial Institutions presented by the Chairman, Sen. Adetokunbo Abiru, during plenary on Wednesday.

President Bola Tinubu had in a letter read on the floor of the Senate on Feb. 14, sought the confirmation of the nominees, ahead of the MPC meeting next week.

The request was then referred to the committee for action.

The deputy governors of CBN confirmed as members of the MPC include Mohammed Abdullahi, Bala Bello, Emem Usoro, and Philip Ikeazor.

Other members are Lamido Yuguda, Director-General, Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Lydia Shehu, Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Finance, Murtala Sagagi, Aloysius Ordu, Pauline Odinkemelu, Mustapha Akinwumi, and Bandele Amoo.

Abiru, while presenting the report gave assurance that the chairman and members had the requisite knowledge and experience for the crucial task ahead of them.

He informed the Senate that the committee screened six of the 12 nominees on Wednesday, February 21.

He, however, said that the Senate did not screen the CBN governor, deputy governors, and the permanent secretary of the finance ministry because they were recently screened for their current positions.

The lawmaker added that the committee required the curriculum vitae, security clearance, and other necessary documents from the nominees and found them qualified for the various positions.

“All nominees are experienced in economics and financial services. Their appointment is in accordance with the provisions of the CBN Act 2007 and we did not receive any petition against them,” he said.

Contributing to the report, Deputy Senate President Jibrin Barau said that the nominees had the expertise to execute the task ahead of them.

However, Senator Osita Izunaso (APC-Imo) noted the task ahead of the nominees, adding that Nigerians were looking up to them to salvage the current economic crisis in the country.

In his remarks, President of the Senate, Godswill Akpabio, commended President Tinubu for selecting men and women of great expertise that would help Nigeria with policies to turn around the CBN and redirect the monetary policies of the federation for the good of all Nigerians.

“I urge the MPC to use their expertise to redirect the monetary policies including even the contributions to the fiscal policies to ensure that Nigerians get out of the current economic quagmire.”

MPC is the highest policy-making committee of the apex bank with the mandate to review economic and financial conditions in the economy and determine the appropriate stance of policy in the short to medium term.