How Senate Confirmed Cardoso As CBN Governor, 4 Deputies

The Senate has confirmed the appointment of Yemi Cardoso as the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) governor and four others as deputy governors of the apex bank.

They were confirmed on Tuesday following a screening by the upper legislative body.

The deputy governors who were confirmed are Emem Nnana Usoro, Muhammad Sani Abdullahi Dattijo, Philip Ikeazor, and Bala Bello.

“The nomination of Olayemi Cardoso is hereby confirmed as governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN),” Senate President Godswill Akpabio said.

Before their confirmation, the nominees had answered questions on matters related to economic and other policies.

During the screening, Cardoso promised to embrace compliance, assuring that under his leadership, the apex bank would remain apolitical.

“I believe that the Central Bank under our watch will have no choice but to embrace a culture of compliance,” he said.

“We will not wait for oversight to come and tell us what to do. We will ensure that by the time the system is passing through us, we catch it and we deal with it,” said Cardoso who promised zero tolerance for abuse of compliance.

“That is a cultural shift, a change in mindset, but we will make sure it happens,” the former Citibank Nigeria chairman assured.

Cardoso’s confirmation comes weeks after President Bola Tinubu nominated him as the acting CBN governor and four others as deputies.

He assumed office last week, replacing the then-acting governor of the CBN Folashodun Shonubi.

The recent appointments followed the suspension and resignation of Godwin Emefiele as the apex bank boss. The Delta-born began his reign in 2014 but got backlash owing to the naira redesign policy.

Emefiele, who was later arrested by the Department of State Services (DSS) but released on bail, is being tried on an alleged N6.9b fraud.