The gist: The National Assembly is seeking to amend the CBN Act, they want the CBN to now come to the National assembly for its budget to be scrutinized.
Opposition to the plan by the National Assembly to amend the Central Bank of Nigeria Act, 2007 grew stringent on Monday with officials of the bank, both past and present, faulting the move.
The one-day public hearing by the Senate Joint Committee on Banking and Judiciary provided the platform for those opposed to the move to air their views.
A former Minister of Finance, Dr. Adamu Ciroma; a pioneer director of the bank in 1958, Alhaji Hamza Otiti; and another former director, Prof. Green Nwankwo, urged the Senate to rescind its decision to amend the Act and consequently tamper with the autonomy of the CBN.
The Governor, CBN, Mallam Lamido Sanusi, who led the presentations, said the subjecting the bank’s budget to scrutiny by the National Assembly would be used to score political points.
“If the central bank needs the approval of political authorities before it gets its budget, those authorities can compel the bank to act in a manner that befits what they seek it should do,” he said.
Sanusi argued that the proposed amendment of the law would remove the autonomy of CBN and compromise its monetary policy formulations.
He said, “The question is of all the functions of the CBN, why should it be budgetary independence? There is not a single central bank in the world that I have seen where the budget goes to parliament.
“What is so special about the CBN that its own budget, out of all the central banks in the world, has to come to parliament? The lack of budgetary independence can potentially be used to undermine the whole function of the central bank.”
He drew the committee’s attention to a list 40 countries where the central banks did not submit annual budgets to parliaments for approval except Zimbabwe, adding that the economic situation in that country was not worthy of emulation.
On his part, Ciroma said the CBN should be left to operate without political interference, noting that such interference could erode its powers, especially in crisis situations.
He said, “Unless you can deal with the economy and monetary policies right when things go wrong with the CBN, I don’t know where the country will be. Let us not bring a policy that will open the system to things that we cannot predict.
“The Board of Directors of CBN is made up of people with knowledge and integrity. Why do you want to do something different? Leave the CBN well alone. What is important is ensuring that the right thing is done and that there is trust in the internal monetary system. We should not unnecessarily tamper with what is working.”
Otiti said, “The CBN Act should be left as it is; it should not be subjected to the appropriation of the National Assembly. The International Monetary Fund will not respect the bank if the present Act is changed.”
Nwankwo agreed with Ciroma and other speakers, noting that the CBN had performed well and should be left to continue its good work.
He said, “The CBN has a long-term view of the economy, but the political authorities have short-term view. If the Act is amended, there may be lack of confidence, and when there is a lack of confidence, there will be no investment, even when there is money, nobody will be willing to touch the money.
The President of the Senate, David Mark, while declaring open the hearing, said the proposed amendment was not meant to erode the independence of CBN, but was to ensure that the bank conformed to global best practice in the execution of its duties.
“We will be guided by the insight and the input made as well as the best interest of Nigeria, and I want to believe that those of you that will be speaking to us will provide the necessary justification for whatever position you canvassed.”
The Nigeria Labour Congress also rejected the proposal by the National Assembly to amend the CBN Act, saying such a move would be retrogressive.
The Vice-President, NLC, Mr. Isa Aremu, in his presentation at the public hearing organised by the National Assembly Joint Committees on Banking, Insurance and other Financial Institutions on Monday, said the proposal to amend the Act should be dropped to forestall any adverse effects on the economy.
He said that the CBN should remain autonomous and its budget should not be subjected to approval by the National Assembly.
“We must have the independence of the judiciary, we must have the independence of the CBN, and we need the independence of the labour movement,” he said.
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We can now see what OBJ said few days ago. Most of these Senators/Reps really don't have any business being in the parliament. Most of them lack ideas and knowledge of what is obtainable in developed economies. They are solely driven by personal gain and interest. Nigerian youths, we must stand up against these Senators/Rep. Imagine how they threw away the cassava bill and yet they want us to develop agriculture. How then will farming not remain a thing of the poor? Our senators leave core issues that are affecting the economy and concentrate on frivolities that will damage the economy the more.
ReplyDeleteNigeria!those corrupt parliamentarians just want appropriate everything now they want to systematically control the CBN.God help Nigeria country where evil wickedness is always ruling
ReplyDelete