By Eric Teniola

From  last week continues the narrative on  the leadership of the CBN, including the remarkable tenure of Chief Joseph Sanusi who served between 1999 and 2004. Following his resignation, then President Olusegun Obasanjo appointed Professor Charles Soludo  as CBN governor

HE later instructed the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Chief Ufot Ekaette, to write a letter of appreciation on behalf of the Federal Government to Chief Sanusi for his long and rewarding service to the nation. 

On Monday, May 31, 2004, my boss, Chief Ufot Ekaette (1939-2019) CFR, the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, handed to me, for distribution, a press release on the new appointment of Professor Chukwuma Charles Soludo as the new Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria by President Olusegun Obasanjo. It was a two paragraph press statement. 

I had to convince Chief Ekaette to let us delay the announcement until we could get fully, the biography of Professor Soludo. He obliged and directed me to contact Dr Obiageli Katryn Ezekwesili (59), who was then head of the Budget Monitoring and Price Intelligence Unit in the Presidency and who introduced Professor Soludo to President Obasanjo for the appointment. An hour later, Professor Soludo entered my office with his Curriculum Vitae (CV), which I added to the press release and I congratulated him. That was the last time he ever visited the office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation. 

Chief Joseph Sanusi’s tenure as the governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria was indeed low profile.  Those who succeeded him, Professor Soludo(29 May 2004-29 May 2009), Mallam Sanusi Lamido Sanusi(June 4, 2009-June 2, 2014) and Mr Godwin Emefiele(June 3, 2014 to date) took a different route. 

Past Governors of the bank—Roy Pentelow Fenton, July 24, 1958 to July 24, 1963; Alhaji Aliyu Mai-Bornu, July 25, 1963 to June 22, 1967; Dr. Clement Nyong Isong, August 15, 1972 to September 24, 1975; Mallam Adamu Ciroma, September 24, 1975 to June 28, 1977; Mr. O. Ola Vincent, June 28, 1977 to June 28, 1982; Alhaji Abdulkadir Ahmed, June 28, 1982 to September 30, 1993; and Dr. Paul Agbai Ogwuma, October 1, 1993 to May 29, 1999, all avoided notoriety while in office.In 1975, members of the Constitution Drafting Committee argued among themselves on the exact role of the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, especially on monetary matters. 

Members of the subcommittee on the Economy, Finance and Division of Powers headed by Dr. Pius Nwabufo Charles Okigbo(1924-2000) from Ojoto Village in Idemili Local Government Area of Anambra State,  never wanted a conflict between the Governor of the Central Bank and the Minister of Finance. 

Other members of the subcommittee were Dr. Bala Usman, Senior Lecturer in History at the Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria; Dr. Segun Osoba, then Senior Lecturer in History at the University of Ife (now Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife); Chief Rasheed Gbadamosi, pioneer Commissioner of Economic Development in Lagos State;  Dr. O. Oyediran, then Senior Lecturer in Political Science at the University of Ibadan;  Dr Ali Alhakeem, an Economist and former Deputy General Manager, Bank of the North, later full time Chairman Nigerian Indigenisation Board; Chief I.I. Murphy, former Parliamentarian in the First Republic and Commissioner in the Old South Eastern State; Dr. E.C. Edozien, Senior Lecturer in Economics at the University of Ibadan; Professor Sam Aluko, Professor of Economics at the University of Ife, now Obafemi Awolowo University,Ile Ife;  and Dr. V.P. Diejomaoh, Professor of Economics at the University of Lagos. 

The only schedule recommended for the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria by the subcommittee was the membership of the National Economic Council. In paragraph 4 of their submission, the subcommittee recommended that “the National Economic Council should have the following members: the Vice President as the Chairman, the 19 governors, the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria and Chairman of the Economic Planning Commission”. In May 1976, General Olusegun Obasanjo, the then Head of State, appointed a nine-man committee headed by Dr. Okigbo, who was then the Economic Adviser to the Federal Government. 

The Committee submitted its report to the Government in December, 1976; its findings and recommendations have since then greatly influenced the growth and direction of the Nigerian financial system. At the time of the Okigbo Committee on the Review of Nigerian Financial System in 1977, there were a total of 21 banks in Nigeria comprising 18 commercial and cooperative banks and three merchant banks. These 21 banks had a total of 487 branches across the country. 

To be concluded…