Senate Approves Four Candidates For CBN’s Board Of Directors

Four of President Bola Tinubu’s five nominations for the Central Bank of Nigeria’s (CBN) board of directors were approved by the Senate on Thursday. The nominations were satisfactorily screened, according to a report that the Lagos East Senatorial District’s Senator Mikhail Adetokunbo Abiru, the chairman of the Committee on Banking, Insurance, and Other Financial Institutions, submitted to the Chambers. According to the lawmaker, President Tinubu’s nomination of them was compliant with CBN Act Section 6(1)(10)(D).

Abiru informed his colleagues, while he was awaiting their confirmation, that there was no petition against any of the nominees, that the Department of State Service, DSS, or Nigeria Police had not issued any security reports regarding them, and that they had complied with the requirements of the Code of Conduct Bureau. “He added that the nominees possess industry knowledge and the capacity to serve on the CBN board,” he stated. In the meantime, Urum Kalu Eke, a constituent of Senator Orji Uzor Kalu of the Abia North Senatorial District, withdrew himself from consideration for the position due to a different commitment to the World Bank.

He said: “Mr President and Distinguished Colleagues, Mr Urum is my constituent and he called to say, there will be a conflict of interest in his nomination as CBN board director.

“That he wishes to decline, while he has already informed the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria.”

After contributions, the Deputy Senate President, Jibrin Barau who presided over the plenary confirmed the nominees through a voice vote: The nominees confirmed are:

1. Mr Robert Agbede
2. Mr Ado Yakubu Wanka
3. Professor Muritala Sabo Sagagi
4. Mrs Muslimat Olanike Aliyu.