Nigeria’s next CBN governor Yemi Cardoso could have been Vice President in 2015

President TInubu has nominated Yemi Cardoso as Nigeria’s next CBN governor. Cardoso’s political affiliation raises questions on CBN’s independence.

Yesterday, President Bola Tinubu nominated Yemi Cardoso to go Nigeria’s Central Bank. Cardoso would be the eleventh CBN governor if efficiently confirmed by the Senate. He will succeed Godwin Emefiele, whose suspension and dramatic elimination nonetheless elevate authorized questions. The nomination of the 66-year-old banker will revive the argument on whether or not bankers or economists make for higher Central Bank governors. While Cardoso is a banker—he served as Chairman of Citibank—a few of Nigeria’s extra celebrated CBN governors have been economists. 

The major check for Nigeria’s next CBN governor is worth stability. In six years, the CBN has achieved poorly at controlling inflation, with final month’s inflation numbers reaching an 18-year excessive. Godwin Emefiele advised that grasping middlemen had been the drivers of excessive costs. His time as governor was notable for increasing loans to the federal authorities, CBN-funded agricultural schemes, and artificially pegged trade charges. 

Many of the insurance policies Emefiele pursued in his time as governor appeared to have the nod of President Buhari, calling the financial institution’s independence into query. Emefiele was additionally criticised for a short-lived try and run for the Presidency whereas he was CBN governor. Observers have related issues about his successor, Cardoso.

A partisan CBN governor?

In 2015, Cardoso was one in all three names thought of as Vice President to Muhammadu Buhari. “I was asked to submit three names, Yemi Cardoso, Wale Edun, and Yemi Osinbajo, but I told them if I submit three names, they would play a game, they might make it four and pick the fourth one. I gave them one name and that was Osinbajo,” Tinubu defined in the buildup to the 2023 elections.

The new CBN governor is a long-term affiliate of Tinubu; he was appointed Lagos State’s Commissioner for Budget and Economic Planning in 1999 however didn’t full his tenure as Commissioner as a result of he received the Michael Romer Memorial Scholarship. Some political consultants claimed that Cardoso would have been nominated as deputy governor of Lagos following Senator Bucknor Akerele’s exit if he had not taken up the scholarship. Instead, Femi Pedro turned deputy governor. 

Despite questions on partisanship, Cardoso’s achieved profession with Citibank and Citizens International Bank and his tutorial {and professional} accomplishments will give some hope that he could make a superb CBN governor. But like Wale Edun, who was appointed finance minister, he could have to shake off claims that his appointment is a continuation of Tinubu’s rising sample of inserting his previous allies in strategic groups. 

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