Curtailing CBN Powers: Reps Message To Adeosun Is As Stern As You’d Expect

Some members of the House of Representatives have come out publicly to frustrate any hopes that the Minister of Finance, Kemi Adeosun, might have of curtailing the CBN’s powers, Vanguard reports. This follows reports from some media sources last week that Mrs. Adeosun had requested that the legislature trim the powers of the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), and if possible, subsume the CBN as an arm under the Ministry of Finance.

About three different Reps who spoke on the matter, all from the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), gave reasons why they feel Mrs. Adeosun is asking for too much with the request. Chairman, House Committee on Public Accounts, Kingsley Chinda opined that Mrs. Adeosun was not yet effectively handling the responsibilities she already has. As such, any additional responsibility would be too much for her to bear.

“She should be more interested in coming up with workable and sustainable policies than dispute over powers. She cannot even effectively exercise 40 percent of the powers of her office. The powers of the CBN governor are not the problem with our economy. She should concentrate on and limit herself to fiscal policies and allow the CBN deal with monetary policies.” he said.

Another PDP member in the House and Chairman House Committee on Public Petitions, Uzoma Nkem-Abonta, described any such effort as ‘politicizing’ the CBN, which would be inimical to the nation’s economy.

“CBN should outlive governments and parties. It must not be treated like core civil service or ministries. CBN operations should be devoid of political manipulations and any attempt to put CBN under the management of Finance Ministry will spell doom for our economy” Abonta explained.

Finally, the House Minority Leader, Leo Ogor, explained that such a move would spell doom for the economy. He said

“If the minister succeeds with her plan, the reaction time of the CBN to monetary policies will be greatly impaired by bureaucracy as it is expected to act through a supervisory agency, and such move will result in undue political interference in monetary policies, which will not augur well for the economy.”

With these initial reactions from the legislature, it seems Mrs. Adeosun will have to look to other solutions to solve the apparent rift she has with the CBN hierarchy, or somehow convince other legislators to buy into her plan. The former seems a more viable option, however, as her plan does not conform with best practices as seen in other nations.