By Nik Ogbulie
Former CBN Governors, Joseph Sanusi and Chukwuma Soludo saw tomorrow. That was why they fought and insisted that instrument authority must be accorded the Central Bank of Nigeria few years after the apex financial institution was retrieved from the jaws of a military autocracy. No one can hazard any guess as to what could have been their state of the bank at a time of timid political struggle, like what happened in Nigeria about eight months ago.
Today, the wrangling and stoneface over the CBN as a major development institution considering its statutory activities would have been a completely unbundled structure just because of political interests.
Watching the Senators suggest several ammendments to the Act establishing the Apex bank since the last 65 years was a reflection of the importance Nigerian leaders attach to processes and sequences. To a lot of them, changes become completely important when they are seen to be protective to the powerful who only see laws as mere obstruction to their usually “uncommon” interests.
Suffice it to say that the same Senators that are calling for the changes of the CBN Acts were there when several loopholes in our legal system have influenced the level of growth we have in the country today as well as encouraging insecurity and the proliferation of small weapons.
One may have been waiting to hear if the suggested changes will improve the sad rating of our currency or the inflation. But those are not their targets. Their targets are just the ways to unblock any policy that will not allow them to be rail-roaded into the seat of power.
The crux of the matter is the much welcomed Currency Redesign which was targeted at addressing the misnomer in most of our social developments, not just politics. Every Nigerian agreed that the social solution of the exercise was great but those who felt that their interests have been bewitched ganged up to subvert the intention of the project.
Indications abound that during the election, not much Naira was spent . Only a small quantity of dollars were affordable by the multimillionaire for spending and this affected the access level of many not-too-rich politicians. This has really become the reason for the controversy and not the reality of the project.
The decision to defend the Naira and protect the electoral process as well as reducing the level of crime associated with cash are the offences of the CBN and EFCC helmsman, otherwise, can someone, as a matter of seriousness, take back the cases to the courts for thorough diagnoses? These people were merely seen as the catalysts whose actions as government agents would deter corrupt Nigerians from infusing heavy level of crime in the system. The crimes really happened but at a very minute level as money was not freely available. That was why we recorded a very poor voting level as well as a very low gap between the winners.
Our records show that voting level reduced by about 40%, indicating the failed ability to influence voters who were waiting for money as an enducement.
What is happening on the floor of the Senate over the CBN is an indication of an increasing poor governance trend in the country. The Senate does not need to continue changing the laws to address some abbressions even when the existing Laws largely remain very relevant. What is the issue here is for government to apply the existing infractions and not making new ones to distort the flow of corporate governance.
If the Instrument autonomy won by CBN after a long debate spanning over 15 years was not there, I bet that the development since the Currency Redesign would have reduced the apex bank to a microfinance bank because almost all the staff would have been replaced with people loyal to the status quo ante.
The current slide in all the indices in the economy would have caused as much as 90% inflation and a 100% currency slide and not many Nigerians would be bothered even as they die slowly.
As a matter of fact, the current management of the apex bank is highly skilled and largely reputable and must resolve to defend the mandate that offers CBN its proper place in the management of the various Monetary and Fiscal Policies.
As a matter of fact, the CBN Act still stands non-negotiable unless the bank Board feels it is absolutely necessary. Whatever that would happen to CBN in form of change must be on the instance of the CBN as an institution, not Senate.
Being the Chairman of the CBN Board, the onus totally lie on him to make such a change or whatever the bank desires. It may now be important to say that Yemi Cardoso and his men must resist any attempt to turn the apex bank into a blind alley or a cheap accomplice for cheap political gains.
