Olayemi Cardoso slams Emefiele for drawing CBN backward

The governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, Olayemi Cardoso, has criticized his predecessor, Godwin Emefiele, for pursuing policies that have tarnished the country’s central bank in recent years.

The new head of Nigeria’s apex bank said the CBN was drawn backward under the leadership of its embattled former governor, employing unorthodox use of monetary tools among other unceremonious moves.

Cardoso disclosed this in his speech on Friday at the Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria’s (CIBN) 50th-anniversary event.

He also identified an inefficient and opaque foreign exchange market that hindered clear access and a foray into fiscal activities as significant challenges for the apex bank in the past few years.

“I am aware that events over the past few years have also put the CBN in a bad light. These issues can be attributed to various factors, such as corporate governance failures, diminished institutional autonomy of the Central Bank of Nigeria, a deviation from the core mandate of the Bank, unorthodox use of monetary tools, an inefficient and opaque foreign exchange market that hindered clear access, a foray into fiscal activities under the cover of development finance activities.

“There was also a lack of clarity in the relationship between fiscal and monetary policies, among other challenges.

“Hitherto, the CBN had strayed from its core mandates and was engaged in quasi-fiscal activities that pumped over N10tn into the economy through almost different initiatives in sectors ranging from agriculture, aviation, power, youth and many others. These distracted the Bank from achieving its objectives and took it into areas with limited expertise,” he said.

Cardoso, however, vowed to bring the bank back to life to fulfill its statutory responsibilities.

He said, “Under my leadership, the Central Bank of Nigeria will vigorously address these issues. We will tackle institutional deficiencies, restore corporate governance, strengthen regulations, and implement prudent policies. We assure investors and the business community that the economy will experience significant stability in the short-to-medium term as we recalibrate our policy toolkits and implement far-reaching measures.”

Recall that Mr. Godwin Emefiele was recently granted N300 million bail over a N1.2 billion alleged procurement fraud.

He was suspended as CBN governor in June by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.