Oscarline Onwuemenyi
20 March 2018, Sweetcrude, Abuja – The Senate on Monday screened President Muhammadu Buhari’s two nominees for the position of Deputy Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).
The nominees are Mrs. Aisha Ahmad and Mr. Edward Adamu.
Similarly, four other nominees were also screened as members of the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC). They are Prof Festus Adeola Adenikinju, Dr. Aliyu Rafindadi Sanusi, Dr. Robert Chikwendu Asogwa and Dr. Asheikh Maidugu.
The nominees took turns to face the Senate committee on Banking, Insurance and other Financial Institutions, as members of the committee threw a barrage of questions at them.
Mrs. Ahmad who was accompanied to the venue of the screening by her husband and her father, was the first to be screened.
In response to questions, the nominee stressed the need for the country to have a stable foreign exchange policy in order to stabilise the economy.
On his part, Edward Adamu, who is widely acknowledged to have been appointed on merit, based on his track record at the apex bank, was not subjected to the grilling. Members of the Senate committee were unanimous in giving him a smooth passage.
Earlier moves, allegedly by some Presidency cabal to replace Adamu with a preferred candidate were vehemently resisted by his colleagues at the CBN who vowed to frustrate such manipulation.
The Senate had put on hold the screening of the nominees and others appointed by President Muhammadu Buhari for several weeks, owing to disagreement between the two arms of government.
At the commencement of the exercise, the Senior Special Assistant to the President on National Assembly matters (Senate), Ita Enang, pleaded with the lawmakers to also screen other nominees of the President whose nomination are still pending.
Chairman of the Senate committee, Senator Rafiu Ibrahim, however said the leadership of the Senate decided to yield ground owing to the strategic and sensitive nature of the nominees’ appointments.
