Senate Sets to make CBN more transparency, accountable

Senate Sets to make CBN more transparency, accountable

The Senate on Wednesday in Abuja, barring serving apex bank governors and their deputies from par­tisan politics to make the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) more transparent and accountable in its operations.

The move may not be unconnected to what happened during the 2023 pres­idential election, when Godwin Emefiele, the former CBN governor, allegedly wanted to contest the election as sitting governor.

During the plenary on Wednesday, Bill to this effect has, however, passed second reading on the floor of the Senates

The Chairman, Solomon Olamilekan speaking during the meeting of the Appropriation Committee said he never believes in the padding of the budget, adding that such was never in his diary.

Promising that the 10th Senate will keep to the tradition of Jan­uary to December budget cycle, Olamilekan added that the Senate will meet the yearnings and the needs of the people.

He said: “I want you to take cognisance of the change of government on May 29. There is a teething problem because there is a change of government. The new administration has a new mantra that encapsulates its vision and there must be some challenges.

“We will do a thorough job on the budget. Our job is to verify the budget to meet the expectations of the people. We will look into it thoroughly.

“We are expecting the MTEF next week and immediately we receive the document, the Committee on Finance will go into work and look into it. The Finance Minister and the Minis­ter of Budget and Planning are working round the clock.

“I assure you that we won’t break the tradition, we will have the budget as at when due. We will keep to the tradition of the January to December budget cycle. It has to do with the nomination of a project to the budget document that will meet the yearnings and the needs of the people. I would not regard that as padding. It is still part of the government document we will look into and it has an expecta­tion.”

Meanwhile, the Senate at the plenary, passed for second read­ing bills seeking to amend the CBN Act.

The bills titled, ‘Central Bank of Nigeria (Establishment) (Amendment) Bill 2023’ was spon­sored by Senator Steve Karimi (APC: Kogi West) while the sec­ond one titled, ‘A Bill to Amend the Central Bank of Nigeria Act 2007, and for Matters Connected therewith, 2023’, was sponsored by Senator Darlington Nwokocha (LP: Abia Central).

Leading debate on the bill, Karimi explained that the aim of his bill was to allow for greater accountability and transparency in the running of the apex bank.

To prohibit the use of for­eign currency in local transac­tions in Nigeria he proposed an amendment.

His proposed amendment to Section 9(2) of the CBN Act reads: “Notwithstanding the provisions of this Act or any written law in existence, the governor and the deputy governors of the bank shall not participate directly or indirectly in partisan politics, nor contest any election, during their tenure in office.”

The bill seeks amendment of Section 20 of the CBN Act, by inserting Section 20(A) immedi­ately after the existing Section 20, before the existing Section 21.

The proposed amendment reads: “20(A) Prohibition of the use of foreign currency in dem­ocratic transactions:

“(1) No person or body cor­porate shall use any foreign cur­rency as a means of exchange for goods, services and other transac­tions in markets, supermarkets, hotels, restaurants, airports and other places of business in Nige­ria except by a bank, licensed bu­reau de change and other finan­cial institutions duly authorized by the Central Bank of Nigeria to trade, deal and use such curren­cy and no individual or business entity in Nigeria shall advertise, denominate or price its goods or services in any currency other than the Nigerian naira and kobo.

“(2) Any person who con­travenes subsection (1) of this section commits an offense and shall be liable on conviction to: (a) in the case of an individual, to a fine of N250,000.00 or a term of imprisonment not exceeding six months or both such fine and imprisonment.

“(b) In the case of a corporate entity to a fine of N1,000,000 and a conviction of three months to its officers or directors who authorized or undertook the trans­action.”

Leading debate on his bill, Sen­ator Nwokocha said, “The thrust of this amendment is to create a people-centered central bank by delivering price and financial sys­tem stability and promoting sus­tainable economic development.

“As the nation grapples with economic issues, we need to reposition the CBN to grow the economy, regulate the exchange rate and unauthorize financial transactions and dollarize the economy.

“This bill seeks to provide for among other things: separate the head of management from the head of the governing board in line with national and interna­tional good corporate governance practices.

“Establish a proper gover­nance architecture for the mone­tary authority for optimal policy and operational effectiveness.

“Enshrine real-time controls and effective accountability in the conduct of central banking in Nigeria.

“Reposition the CBN towards pursuit and advancement of its core mandates given the bank’s pivotal role in the economy; and position the CBN as an apolitical entity that will become a worthy example in national and interna­tional monetary policy, banking sector regulation, currency man­agement, and supervision.”

Senator Barau Jibrin, the Deputy President of the Senate who presided over the ple­nary in his remarks said, “It is important that we reposition our laws and the CBN Act to make sure that the apex bank is put in the best position to perform its function.

“An integral part of the ar­rangement of every country is making sure that every country has a central bank that will be in control of its monetary pol­icies, because if one is not able to get right there, then that will be something that will be described as catastrophic.

“So, the two bills that are been brought to the Senate are commendable and the robust de­bates that took place showed the passion in the minds of every sen­ator here in making sure that all is done to put the apex bank in the best position to perform its func­tion in a way that the country’s interest will be well protected.”