NIGERIA (Commonwealth Union) – It doesn’t come as a surprise that a central bank in any country is under fire by the government that is coming or going. It’s always the fault of the central bank for either they are given to much power or not enough. This is exactly the problem that is being faced by the Nigerian Central bank as we speak.
There was plenary held by the Senate of Nigeria on the 27th of September 2022 where a bill was discussed. The bill was ideally put forward to Central amend the Act of 2007 which involves CBN. Basically, what will happen is if the bill is passed the wings of the CBN will be clipped and that means their power will be reduced. This could mean that the CBN will now have to answer to another appointed governmental monetary organization.
The media reported that the Bill spoke of three major issues. They were named as follows in this order 1) Appointment of an outsider as the chairman of CBN Board of Directors, 2) Fixing the remuneration of board members and 3) Approval of annual budget to be submitted to the National Assembly (NASS) for consideration.
This can only mean one thing. These amendments were proposed so that the independence of the CBN is limited, they want to curb the independence of the bank’s operational independence which goes against section 1 sub section 3 of the CBN Act of 2007 which clearly states that “the Bank shall be an independent body in the discharge of its functions.”
When looking back at the governments before this one, it is seen that this was not the first time that the wanting to wear down the autonomy that is possessed by the CBN. In the year 2012 a smiliar move was made by the senate and now a decade later the issue has come up again.
