A group under the aegis of Public Interest Lawyers League (PILL) has rejected the nomination of Zenith Bank’s managing director Godwin Emefiele as the new governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) on grounds that he is not fit and proper for the position
Emefiele was nominated by President Goodluck Jonathan in February to be the new governor of CBN pending his screening by the Senate.
Leadership reports:
In an open letter to President Goodluck Jonathan jointly signed by the president of the group, Abdul Mahmud and the publicity secretary secretary, Peter Uwabuike it stated that Emefiele presided over a deposit bank that competed with other deposit banks and should not be appointed a regulator over competing rival banks
According to them the rivalry that exists between chief executives of deposit banks will adversely affect the restructuring regulatory frameworks of the financial sector and deepen poor corporate governance practices.
The letter read in parts, “Some may argue,dishonestly that previous governors of the central bank were appointed from deposit banks.Yes, Paul Ogwuma, Joseph Sanusi and Lamido Sanusi came from Union Bank and First Bank respectively. We must however point out that at the time of the appointments of Paul Ogwuma and Joseph Sanusi their banks were wholly owned by the federal government.
“Sanusi Lamido was appointed at a time that First Bank had gone public, with no single individual or institution controlling shares. Same cannot be expressed for Zenith Bank PLC, with Mr Jim Ovia as the dominant shareholder and Mr Emefiele as its managing director’’.
‘’Recall your excellency that Zenith Bank PLC was fingered in 2008 by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission(EFCC) in the criminal diversion of N3.6b from the coffers of Rivers State government.Mr Jim Ovia then Managing Director was arrested and detained whilst Mr Emefeile was a top executive.Emefiele is a product of corrupt corporate governance environment.
The Group also urged President Jonathan to withdraw the nomination of Emefiele to protect the CBN from influence, perceived or real to secure its independence and to save it from the kind of injury that it will suffer as a result of the possible appointment of Emefiele adding that it will not command the confidence of competitor Chief Executives of deposit Banks and other financial investors.
