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Tag: Mr Godwin Emefiele

  • Pension scam: Reps summons Emefiele over N33bn deductions

    The House of Representatives, on Thursday, asked the Gov. of Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Mr Godwin Emefiele, to appear before it over alleged discrepancies in the remittance of N33 billion pension deductions by National Pension Commission (PenCom).

    The House also invited the Accountant-General of the Federation (AGF), Ahmed Idris, to appear alongside Emefiele before its Ad hoc Committee to Investigate the Activities of (PenCom) and its Administrators on Tuesday, April 9.

    Johnson Agbonayinma (APC-Edo), the Chairman of the committee, gave the directive at a public hearing in Abuja.

    He said the invitation was necessary to clarify noticeable discrepancies in the pension deductions claimed to have remitted by Aisha Dahir-Umar, Acting Director-General of PenCom.

    He added that submissions by the apex bank governor and the AGF would guide the committee in wrapping up the investigative hearing.

    According to him, the outcome of the investigation is in the interest of Nigerian pensioners and the public.

    ”This ad hoc committee invites the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and the Accountant-General of the Federation (AGF) to appear before it on Tuesday, April 9, to clarify issues surrounding the money claimed to have been remitted by PenCom,” he said.

    Meanwhile, the Nigerian Union of Contributory Pensioners (NUCP) has said that “the new pension scheme has compounded, rather than alleviating problems faced by retirees under the Contributory Pension Scheme.”

    In a memorandum submitted to the ad -hoc committee by the union and signed by its leaders, Messrs U.C. Ekpo and Emezuru Eugene, NUCP attributed the problems faced by contributory pensioners to some of the faulty provisions of the 2014 Pension Act (as amended).

    Read also: PenCom launches micro pension tomorrow

    ”From the look of things, the whole essence of the new pension scheme is to create capital for the Pension Fund Administrators (PFA) to maximise profits and enrich themselves.

    ”Worse still, PenCom, which is empowered to strictly enforce the Pension Reform Act in regulating the activities of PFAs and Pension Custodians, has become a violator of the same Act in many ways,” they said.

    The union identified alleged unwholesome practices by PenCom to include lack of review of contributors’ pension every five years as provided in Section 173 (3) of the 1999 Constitution (as amended).

    Others include persistent delays in payment of retirees’ benefits to over 2 years; lack of standardised template and transparency in computation of lump sums paid after retirement; and gender inequality in the payment of lump sums, which they argued, contravenes the Pension Reform Act.

    The NUCP further noted that the sum total of anomalies and injustices perpetrated by PenCom in its implementation of the Contributory Pension Scheme led to suffering, pain and premature death of pensioners in Nigeria.

    They, however, called on PenCom to confine itself to its functions as a regulator rather than meddling in the union’s activities. (NAN)

  • Emefiele and the not so exclusive audio tapes

    In Nigeria, must we always kill our illustrious sons? It is a question that several persons of repute, including activist, had asked in the past and the question again took on relevance in recent days as the hyenas hemmed in what they thought was their prey and tried to snuff life out of his career. The intended dinner of the human hyenas was the Governor of the Central Bank, Mr Godwin Emefiele.
    The hunting ground of choice was the web pages of Sahara Reporters, which went to town with the screamer, “CAUGHT ON TAPE: How Central Bank Governor Emefiele, Deputy Adamu And Top Officials Discussed How To Cover-Up N500bn Which They Stole From The CBN”. But it turned out the hyenas were not meant to have Emefiele for dinner, they went hungry. Contrary to the envisaged endgame, President Muhammadu Buhari handed him another five years in office. And who would not, considerng the superlative outing he had in his first term? It must be this performance that made his confirmation by the Senate to be as fast as lightning.
    Beyond being re-appointed and being expeditiously confirmed to continue leading Nigeria’s apex bank, it turned out that the report carried by Sahara Reporters was the usual hatchet job. The best the report was able to do was to twist a routine telephone conversation out of context to allege a theft that never took place while further exposing the shallowness of the folks behind the news blog and those who contracted them to do the hit job.
    The story they put out has been spectacularly rubbished by the statement issued by Mr Isaac Okoroafor, CBN’s Director of Corporate Communications. There is no need to rehash the explanation offered in that statement but suffice to say the statement exposed the lack of understanding on the part of those who thought they had caught Mr Emefiele in a compromised position worthy of breaking news and embarrassing enough to the government to not reappoint him. The reality, however, is that they only succeeded in convincing the rest of us how ignorant they are about the way reserve banks work.
    There is the outside chance that these hyenas are not so ignorant; they know there is no substance in their claim but they were deluded to expect that Nigerians and their leaders are naïve to the point where they will rush to crucify Emefiele without first weighing the substance of the supposed allegations implied by leaking the tape.
    Three things stand out in this ugly saga of a failed blackmail attempt. The first is that the recording points to the existence of deeply political operatives in all branches and agencies of government. Those who made the audio went to great length to procure their tainted produce. Whether they bugged or hacked the telephone sets in the CBN Governor’s office, compromise the internal switch at the apex bank, or deployed eavesdropping technology to intercept the calls, this is a red flag that public officials are now persistently under threat from political operatives that are out to garner information for their own end. To the extent that Mr. Emefiele’s telephone conversation was in pursuit of legitimate duty, as we now know, the perpetrators of this act have breached several of the laws of the land and their action can be likened to an attack on the country.

    Read Also: APC, PDP in tight race in Edo

     

    A second observation is that the kind of concern one can surmise from the CBN Governor’s discomfort and expressions in the course of the call showed a man that is passionate about getting his country out of an economic mess that took long in making. That people connected with the making of the mess are the ones now trying to make its resolution appear like a crime in progress is the height of travesty. Mr.Emefiele could have simply act indifferently and cited the approvals from the Ministry of Finance as a basis to be unconcerned. But true to his credential as a man that has done much to reduce and now on the verge of eradicating the famed black hole that swallows national resources at the CBN, the audio depicted him as greatly agitated about recovery of the funds that were released to bail out states that failed to be fiscally prudent to the point of becoming insolvent. A note must be made of the fact that the irresponsible behaviour on the part of state governors, which led to this situation, was the hallmark of the governments that preceded that of President Buhari. State governors of now, even those that do not belong to the ruling party at the centre, have learnt that there is no longer room for kleptocratic frivolity.

    Furthermore, it is one thing to criminally breach the security of an institution as pivotal as the CBN, publishing the proceeds of that crime amounts to daring the state. It is like someone stealing clothes from a neighbourhood and then parading the streets dressed in the stolen items. Such arrogance comes from the erroneous impression that the state is incapable of visiting the requisite sanction on the offenders or that the criminal in this instance are above the law.
    With these observations come the steps that must be taken to prevent blackmailers and criminals from arrogating legitimacy to themselves should they wrongly surmise that society condones their wrong-doings. It is, therefore, necessary to clearly define what constitutes desirable whistleblowing and what amounts to espionage against the interests of the Nigerian state. A situation where Chief Executives of government agencies and other government functionaries are illegitimately wiretapped cannot be allowed to continue unabated. Today, it is Emefiele, what happens when these criminal minded people turn to bug the Inspector General of Police and his key staff while making the recordings available to bandits and kidnappers? Or how much of this wiretapping have been deployed for insider trading or machination towards the collapse of the banks regulated by the CBN?
    Also, the government must make it a priority to get to the bottom of this breach at the CBN. The breach and other actions carried out in its aftermath should be subjected to review by the office of the Attorney General of the Federation such that those found culpable – individual or corporate – would be made to face the law, of which there are adequate provisions.
    This piece will conclude on the note of urging Mr Emefiele not to be daunted by the antics of those that feel pained that the CBN is no longer the ATM pool for corruption because of the reforms he has instituted there. Nigerians, who are his actual employers, are happy with his work, which made them greet his re-appointment with accolades. It’s the views of these employers that matter and not the perverted indulgence of a criminal few.
    Agbese is a human rights activist based in the United Kingdom.

     

  • Currency swap will not cover substandard good, says CBN

    The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) said the currency swap agreement recently reached with the People’s Bank of China (PBoC), will not cover the importation of substandard goods into the country.

    The Central Bank Governor, Mr Godwin Emefiele, represented by the bank’s acting Director, Corporate Communications, Mr Isaac Okorafor, said this yesterday in Abuja, at the Currency Swap sensitization for North Central Zone.

    Read Also:CBN begins forex trading in Chinese currency

    Emefiele noted that the swap deal had the potential to reduce importation of made-in-China substandard goods as only goods approved by regulatory bodies such as Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON) would qualify under the agreement.

    According to him, “if there is anybody that thinks he or she will collect Renminbi through this window and sell on the street, is sadly mistaken. Transactions under the deal will be done electronically and this deal is only for products that originate from China. It does not apply to any transaction in Asia, outside the Chinese territory,” he said.

    In his presentation, Mr Oreva Eweh, Assistant Director, Financial Market Department of the CBN, identified “speed and efficiency as some of the benefits of trading under the Renminbi denominated window for the transaction with China.”

    Similarly, Mr Richard Maikai, from the Trade and Export Department of the CBN, spoke on the documentation requirements under the agreement.

    According to him, “importers intending to import from China must obtain proforma invoice denominated in Renminbi as part of the documents required for registration of Form M. Also, the foreign exchange window cannot not be used for payments on transactions in which the beneficiaries are not in China. In addition, authorised dealers shall not open domicilary accounts denominated in Renminbi for customers, “he said.

    Maikai, stated that Bureau de Change (BDC) Operators were not eligible to take part in the transaction as cash transactions would not be allowed under the window.

    Earlier, Mr Adetokunbo Kayode, the Director-General, Abuja Chamber of Commerce and Industry,  Mines and Agriculture (ABUCCIMA), said the currency swap deal would make doing business easier for its members.

    He called on the government to implement favourable business friendly policies to fast track economic growth in the country.

     

  • Buhari for ECOWAS Task Force meeting on common currency ‎in Niamey

    Buhari for ECOWAS Task Force meeting on common currency ‎in Niamey

     

    President Muhammadu Buhari will Tuesday depart for Niamey, Republic of Niger, to participate in a meeting on common currency for the West African sub-region.

    Member countries of the ECOWAS Task Force on Common Currency are ‎Nigeria, Cote d’Ivoire, Ghana and Niger.

    A statement by the Special Adviser on Media and publicity, Femi Adesina, said that the President will be accompanied by the Minister of Finance, Mrs Kemi Adeosun and the Central Bank of Nigeria governor, Mr Godwin Emefiele.

    President Buhari will return to Abuja same day after the meeting.

  • Emefiele hands over 2011 intervention project to MOUAU

    Emefiele hands over 2011 intervention project to MOUAU

    The Governor of Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Mr. Godwin Emefiele has officially handed over the bank’s 2011 intervention project (Center for Entrepreneurship Development building) to Michael Okpara University of Agriculture Umudike (MOUAU), Abia State, a project purely designed for the Southeast zone.

    Speaking during the event, Mr. Emefiele appealed to Abians and the entire people of the South East to endeavor to leverage on the project by taking advantage of the centre to enable them develop their various skills.

    Emefiele who was represented by a Deputy Director in CBN, Mr. Oluwole Owoeye, described the project as part of corporate and social responsibility of CBN towards the people of the zone through which they could harness their skills.

    He said that the Entrepreneur Development Centre (EDC) is designed to develop skills (Small and Medium Scale Enterprise), “In Nigeria we realized that for now, there are dearth of skills and people don’t have relevant skills”.

    “So the essence of this thing is for people to develop skills in various areas, so that they can be independent on their own as well as help to develop the skills of their after they must have sharpened their own skills”.

    The CBN boss said, “This one is the project the bank has developed for the southeast zone and I want to appeal is Abians and the entire Southeast to leverage and take advantage of this centre to develop their skills”.

    “We know that Aba is well known for a lot of SMEs, so I want to use this medium to appeal to the people in Aba, its environs and entire Abia to come and patronize this center, so that we will build up their skills”.

    “We have shoe, slippers, bag and sandals making unit, bread, cake, chin-chin and custard marking unit, clothing and textile unit, auto machanic and generator repairs, insecticide, Air refresher and perfume unit among others in this center”.

    “So people from the South East zone should come in and build their skills so that Nigeria will be a better place for all of us and also help in increasing the internally generated revenue of their area”.

    He appealed to the Center Director to be objective enough in giving MOUAU Vice Chancellor, Prof. Francis Otunta information on critical things lacking in the center so that it will keep on meeting the expectations of the people.

    Emefiele also called on the Abia State Government to assist MOUAU in supplying facilities which may be lacking in the center, in order to sustain it, adding that it is one of the ways to improve the centre.

    In his address, the MOUAU VC, Prof. Otunta appreciated his predecessors like Prof. Ikenna Oyido and Prof. Hilary Odo Edeoga and the CBN for conceiving the idea that gave birth to the edifice from the start to the completion of it.

    The VC represented by Prof. Ofo Iwe, the DVC, said the Centre for Entrepreneurship Development (CED) was established in October 2011 in compliance with the directive of the Federal government of Nigeria and National Universities Commission.

    He said that the vision of CED was to make MOUAU a foremost institution, especially, University of Agriculture in Nigeria that provides comprehensive and highly accessible quality entrepreneurship education and training.

    Earlier in his welcome address, the Director, Centre for Entrepreneurship MOUAU, Prof. Oji Onu Ekumankama commended the CBN boss for reaffirming his interest in CED and in promoting entrepreneurial education and training in the university.

    He described the project as a big morale booster for CED whose mission was to provide facilities and expertise (for students of MOUAU and catchment community people) that will propel the growth and development of SMEs through sustainable quality, effective and dynamic entrepreneurial coaching and assistance.

     

  • Sarah Alade retires as Deputy Governor from CBN

    Sarah Alade retires as Deputy Governor from CBN

    After serving for 23 years at the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), 10 of which as Deputy Governor Economic Policy and one time Acting governor of the apex bank, Dr Mrs Sarah Alade bade an emotional farewell to the bank on Tuesday.

    Speaking at the send-off dinner organized by the members of the Economic Policy Directorate of the CBN, governor of bank, Mr Godwin Emefiele described Alade’s departure as “not very happy” for him because Sarah Alade was not just a friend but a colleague and a moderating force who pulled him back from losing his cool during tense moments at the bank.

    Emefiele described Alade’s 23 years at the bank as excellent and a good representative of ladies at the CBN, noting that it will be difficult to fill the vacuum her departure will create.

    The CBN governor commended Alade for bowing out when the ovation was loudest and thanked her for contribution to learning in the apex bank and outside. The bank he said will continue to pray for her in her private capacity and will also seek her expertise from time to time to guide them.

    Dr. Sarah Omotunde Alade was appointed Acting Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria on 20th February, 2014. Prior to this time, she had served as Deputy Governor (Economic Policy), Central Bank of Nigeria from 26th March, 2007.

    Dr. Sarah Alade commenced her working career in 1977 at the Ministry of Finance and Economic Development, Ilorin, Kwara State. In 1991, she joined the University of Ilorin as a Lecturer in the Department of Accounting and Finance. She joined the Central Bank of Nigeria in 1993 as an Assistant Director in the Research Department where she served as Head, State Government Finance Office (1993-1996), Head, Federal Government Finance Office (1996-2000) and Head, Fiscal Analysis Division (2000-2004).

    Dr. Alade has served on the teams on major economic policy studies, and has been involved in the preparation of Central Bank of Nigeria’s Monetary and Credit Policy Proposals over the years. She was actively involved in the drafting of the Medium Term Economic Programme (MTP) for Nigeria and the IMF staff Monitored Programme/Standby Arrangement.

    Dr. Alade was appointed Director, Banking Operations Department in May 2004. In that capacity, she served as Chairman Board of Directors, Nigeria Interbank Settlement System (NIBSS) as well as Secretary, National Payments System Committee (NPSC).

    Dr. Alade was a member of the Technical committee of the Vision 2010 and currently a member of the Technical Committee of Vision 2020 and member of the National Economic Management Team (EMT).

    As Deputy Governor, Economic Policy, Dr. Mrs. Alade superintended over the Economic Policy Directorate, comprising the Research, Monetary Policy, Trade and Exchange, Statistics Departments and Financial Markets Department. As Chair of the Monetary Policy Implementation Committee (MPIC), she interfaces with operational departments and coordinates technical inputs for the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC).

    Dr. Alade, who is a member of the Nigerian Economic Society (NES), has several publications to her credit and is currently carrying out research into Interest Rate Policy and Monetary Policy Implementation in Nigeria. Dr. Mrs. Alade is a Fellow of the Nigerian Institute of Operational Research (NIOR), Association of National Accountant of Nigeria.

    In February 2014, President Goodluck Jonathan appointed Alade as Acting Governor of the CBN to oversee the affairs of the bank from February to June 2014.She is the chairman of the board of directors of the Financial Market Dealers Quotation-Over the Counter (FMDQ-OTC), the African Finance Corporation (AFC) and the Nigeria Export Import Bank (NEXIM). Sarah Alade has several publications to her credit.

     

  • CBN optimistic of rates convergence at FOREX market– Emefiele

    CBN optimistic of rates convergence at FOREX market– Emefiele

    Mr Godwin Emefiele, Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) says the apex bank is determined to see the convergence of rates at the foreign exchange market.

    Emefiele said this while fielding questions from newsmen at the end of the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting of the CBN in Abuja on Tuesday.

    The CBN governor denied insinuations in some quarters that it was directed by the National Executive Council (NEC) to intervene at the FOREX market before it started injecting money into the interbank market.

    “NEC did not direct the CBN as is being insinuated in some quarters.

    “We have seen the trend and we took decision to revise it through our FOREX intervention,’’ Emefiele said.

    The governor said that the CBN was optimistic that the rate between the official and parallel market would converge further.

    When asked if the CBN could sustain the policy, Emefiele said that the bank had the capacity to take decisions and implement them.

    He noted that the nations’ foreign reserves had improved further to 31 billion dollars.

    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the MPC rose from its meeting with a retention in the Monetary Policy Ratio (MPR), Cash Reserve Ratio (CRR) at 22.5 per cent and liquidity ratio at 30 per cent.

    Since February when the CBN started its intervention at the interbank market, it had injected more than 1.5 billion dollars, and the Naira had extended its gains against the dollar.

    To further sustain its intervention at the market, the apex bank injected another 180 million dollars on Monday to meet the needs of schools, medicals, business and personal travel allowances.

    NAN reports that in January, the Association of Bureau De Change Operators of Nigeria (ABCON) appealed to the CBN to ensure rate convergence as well as eliminate the multiplicity of rates in the market.

    Meanwhile, the Naira had continued to appreciate at the parallel market, exchanging at N420 (buying rate) and N430 (selling) on Tuesday afternoon.

    The Pound Sterling and the Euro closed at N530 and N450 respectively.

  • CBN warns against charging double digit interest rates

    CBN warns against charging double digit interest rates

    Participating Financial Institutions (PFIs) in the country have been warned against charging double-digit interest rate on intervention funds guaranteed by the CBN.

    According to a statement by the CBN acting Director, Corporate Communications, Mr Isaac Okorafor on Wednesday,The Governor, Mr Godwin Emefiele gave the warning in Abeokuta, Ogun.

    He did so during an interaction between the Presidential Task Force on Agricultural Commodities and Production and young farmers at the Owowo Model Farm Estate.

    The governor assured the young farmers of the CBN funding support through their respective PFIs.

    Emefele asked them to report any bank that charged above 9 per cent interest on loans guaranteed by the CBN.

    He assured them that development finance officers of CBN were available to assist them on how to access credit from its various intervention funds to create wealth and meet the country’s food needs.

    The governor advised the young farmers to take advantage of the Bank’s Youth Entrepreneurship Development Programme (YEDP) and the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises Development Fund (MSMEDF) to create wealth.

    Also, the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Chief AuduOgbeh, assured the youth that the Federal Government would support their quests to make legitimate earnings from agriculture.

    Ogbeh expressed confidence in the ability of the youth to produce agricultural commodities that would earn the country the much-needed foreign exchange.

    He also commended the effort of the CBN governor, who he noted was very concerned about the import bills of the country, particularly as it had to do with rice importation.

    Also, Gov. Atiku Abubakar Bagudu of Kebbi commended the CBN for its support to  revamping agricultural value chains across different crop types.

    Gov. Ibikunle Amosun of Ogun thanked the presidential task force for visiting the state.

    He said that his administration would partner with the CBN and do all within available resources to fund the agricultural sector.

    It will be recalled that President Muhammadu Buhari, on Nov. 17, 2015, launched the CBN Anchor Borrowers’ Programme in Kebbi.

    The programme is aimed at upgrading small farmers to commercial farmers, thereby achieving the trio objective of stimulating the needed capacity to meet the nation’s increasing food needs.

    Some of the intervention fund by the CBN in the agricultural sector include Agricultural Credit Support Scheme, Commercial Agriculture Credit Scheme and Commercial Agriculture Credit Scheme.

  • MAN to CBN: Reduce interest rate

    MAN to CBN: Reduce interest rate

    The Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN) on Monday said retaining the Monitory Policy Rate (MPR) at 14 per cent by the apex bank would negate growth of manufacturing sector.

    Mr Frank Jacobs, President, MAN, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos that the 14 per cent MPR would not boost domestic production.

    The MAN president also said that maintaining the present rate would prevent the manufacturing sector from coping with the current recession.

    The Central Bank Governor, Mr Godwin Emefiele, had announced MPC decision to retain the MPR at 14 per cent at the end of its two-day meeting last week.

    Apart from retaining the MPR at 14 per cent, the CBN governor said the committee also voted to retain the Cash Reserves Ratio at 22.5 per cent.

    “We had taught that reducing the rates will enable banks to reduce percentage of getting loans to inject into the manufacturing sector to reflate the economy.

    “However, with the present circumstance, many domestic producers will be struggling to keep their businesses as a going concern and will not make profits.

    “As a result of the recession, most manufacturers will want to shed down workers, which will have negative social implication for the country,’’ he said.

    The MAN president urged the apex bank to reduce the interest rates in its next monitory policy meeting to ensure growth in the manufacturing sector.

    “It is only when rates are brought down that the manufacturers will be able to sustain and expand their businesses, even during recession,’’ he said.

    Jacob said that with appropriate incentives, the manufacturing sector could cause an economic turnaround for the country