Bills seeking to prevent the governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and deputy governors of the apex bank from participating in politics have passed second reading in the upper legislative chamber.
The senate passed the bills on Wednesday after it considered two similar bills sponsored by Sunday Karimi, senator representing Kogi west, and Darlington Nwokocha, senator representing Abia central.
In the lead-up to the last general election, Godwin Emefiele, immediate past governor of the CBN, purchased the presidential nomination and expression of interest forms of the All Progressives Congress (APC) worth N100 million.
His campaign posters were also seen in strategic places in the federal capital territory (FCT).
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The development drew widespread condemnation, and debates on whether a CBN governor should be so openly partisan, raged in the mainstream and online media for weeks on end.
While leading debates on their bills, both senators said the board of the apex bank should be restructured.
“I am proposing that we bring in the auditor-general of the federation, chair of FIRS and Chartered Institute of Bankers in Nigeria (CIBN) should be represented in the board of the CBN,” Karimi said.
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“The second area has to do with the CBN governor participating in politics like we saw in the last election. We know the problem he almost caused for the nation.
“I’m proposing that section 9 be amended further that will ban the CBN governor and deputies from participating in politics when they are in service.”
The Kogi senator said the most senior deputy governor should be given the responsibility of acting on the CBN governor’s behalf when they are absent.
On his part, Nwokocha said the CBN should be repositioned to achieve “its core mandates given the bank’s pivotal role in the economy”.
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