CBN: S’East Rallies Support for Soludo
By Tokunbo Adedoja, 05.27.2009


Following strong signals that Prof. Chukwuma Soludo may not be re-appointed governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), bigwigs from the South-east geo-political zone and key bankers have stepped up moves to save his job.
THISDAY had reported at the weekend that President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua was seriously considering the Group Managing Director of First Bank of Nigeria Plc, Mr. Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, as Soludo’s replacement as no CBN governor had enjoyed tenure renewal since 1993.
THISDAY learnt that following the report, some top political and business elite have been holding a series of meetings to map out strategies to save Soludo.
Some of the meetings were attended by serving senators and members of the House of Representatives, as well as the Igbo intelligentsia.
“It would appear Igbos are being quietly eased out of government no matter their performance in office,” a source who attended some of the meetings told THISDAY.
The anger of some of them stemmed from the possibility of having to be made to forgo one of the positions of Inspector-General of Police (IGP) and CBN governor.
“The meeting discussed this issue and considered it very self-serving. How come the North did not have to choose between Ministry of Petroleum Resources and Group Managing Director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC)?” another source said.
The notion that Yar’Adua cannot make the two appointments from the same zone at the same time was also dismissed, with examples being cited of when other zones of the country filled the positions simultaneously.
“The meeting considered it ridiculous the suggestion that the IGP and the CBN governor cannot come from the same zone. In 1999, Chief Joseph Sanusi was appointed CBN governor and Alhaji Musiliu Smith IGP at the same time. Both of them were from the South-west. When the late Abdulkadir Ahmed was CBN governor, we had Alhaji Muhammadu Gambo and Ibrahim Coomasie as IGPs at various times,” he added.
At one of the meetings, some Igbo politicians expressed concern at the dwindling fortune of the South-east in the present government.
“Ernest Ndukwe’s tenure is about to end. He has less than a year to go. It is true that the Comptroller-General of Customs, Mr. Bernard Shaw Nwadulo, is from our zone, but he was appointed a few weeks ago and he is due for retirement in August 2009. He will proceed on terminal leave in July,” the source said.
THISDAY was told that the meeting considered it “confounding” that despite the global accolade Soludo had been receiving, the government would want to do away with him.
The newspaper was told that part of the outcome of the meetings was the letter written to Yar’Adua on Monday by the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Housing and Urban Development, Senator Ikechukwu Obiorah (Anambra South), advising him on the need to adhere to the principle of federal character in the appointment of a new CBN governor.
He said the Minister of Finance, Dr. Mansur Muhtar, and the Minister of National Planning, Dr. Shamsuddeen Usman, are both from Kano State – where Sanusi also comes from.
Meanwhile, THISDAY has learnt that the lobby to get Soludo’s term renewed has been intensified, with the chief executive of a first generation bank enlisting Chief Tony Anenih in an attempt to persuade the Presidency on the matter.
There are also fears that if the President does not move in on time to make a definite pronouncement quickly, it could affect the financial markets in Nigeria and reverberate on the international level.
A financial analyst said: “The CBN position must not be left to uncertainty. It could do damage to Nigeria’s financial market. This is unlike the position of the DG of Security and Exchange Commission (SEC) which has been left vacant for weeks.”
A Presidency source however warned last night that the intensity of the lobby may backfire as the President may finally choose to go for a “neutral” person.

Enough of stupid threads like this abeg.

Thisday is yet to state what their interest is in the appointment of the CBN Governor

Soludo is not running for an elective office how the South East will supposedly rally support for him beats my immagination

the decision on who the CBN Governor should be is Yar'adua's alone

all we say is that it should be done with wisdom

The best person for the Job exist in all geopolitical zones  . . . . all we say is that a balance point should be struck between merit and respecting the current laws of the land which includes Federal Character.

This poster is so dumb - U are told old for all this tribal nonsense.

Why should the SE rally for Soludo?

Yar'adua may re-appoint or not re-appoint Soludo as long as the constitution is adhered to especially as regards the Federal Character part.

Having all the major controllers in the financial sector come from a single state in a country where federal character is practiced is wrong and may come with consequences that the architects may never have envisaged.

SubMacGun:

This poster is so dumb - U are told old for all this tribal nonsense.

I think you got it twisted

You should attack the journalist who wrote the news for Thisday and not the poster.

South East is interested in this because the spin masters (essentially, a Yoruba reporter from ThisDay Newspaper) went to work that Igbos cannot have both the CBN Gov and the police IG at the same time. This Yoruba reporter lit the fire which ignited Igbos into reality. This is that simple

SubMacGun:

This poster is so dumb - U are told old for all this tribal nonsense.

You are so inconsequential and apparently unlettered that I do not have to respond to you. I only did to let you know how insignificant you are.

Afaukwu:

South East is interested in this because the spin masters (essentially, a Yoruba reporter from ThisDay Newspaper) went to work that Igbos cannot have both the CBN Gov and the police IG at the same time. This Yoruba reporter lit the fire which ignited Igbos into reality. This is that simple

I think you should chill . . . . that is not how to win issues like this

ARG flays Sanusi’s consideration for CBN job
By Olayinka Oyebode
Published: Wednesday, 27 May 2009
Afenifere Renewal Group on Tuesday, said it opposed President Umaru Yar‘Adua‘s alleged preference for the Managing Director of the First Bank Plc, Mr. Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, as Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria.

Government has commenced a search for the successor to the incumbent Governor, Prof. Charles Soludo, whose tenure expires this month.

ARG, in a statement by its National Publicity Secretary, Mr. Yinka Odumakin, in Lagos on Tuesday, said it had followed media reports to the effect that the President may have pencilled down Sanusi as the next Governor of CBN, following the expiration of Soludo‘s tenure.

The group said that the news of the impending appointment of Sanusi was already creating ripples across the country, adding that it was important for the President to reconsider the nomination, if it was true.

The group said it was opposed to Sanusi‘s choice on the ground that it amounted to a violation of the principle of the Federal Character and what it called Sanusi‘s ”political views against the Yoruba and Igbo nationalities.”

Citing Section 14(3) of the 1999 Constitution, which stressed the principle of Federal Character, ARG said that it had observed that this principle had been breached by Yar‘Adua, leading to a situation where the entire economic team were from two northern states of Kano and Kastina.

The group listed Yar‘Adua , who is from Kastina State, as head of the team, adding that other members including the Minister of National Planning, Dr. Shamsudeen Usman (Kano); Minister of Finance, Dr. Mansu Mukhtar, (Kano); Chief Economic Adviser to the President, Prof. Taminu Yakub (Kastina); were all from the North.

It said, ”To pick the CBN Governor from Kano means that the economic team would sit and take decisions for the whole country with perspectives from only two states.

”This is not healthy for the Federal Republic of Nigeria made of different peoples who have different views of how to tackle the economic problems in the country.

”Only last week, the Northern Union came out to say that the cause of poverty in the North was Soludo‘s decision against proliferation of Bureau De Change operators. A narrow team from Kano and Kastina may take it that once Bureau De Change operators are allowed free rein, poverty is resolved all over the country.

”This was what motivated the authors of our constitution to insert the principle of Federal Character to have wider perspectives on national issues before decisions are made.

“To go ahead with Mr. Sanusi‘s nomination would therefore further erode the confidence of other sections of the country in the Federal Government.”

http://www.punchng.com/Articl.aspx?theartic=Art200905270374598

This is what fills the space when there is no father at home! Let me ask again, is there really somebody at Aso Rock? A govt. with unpredictable economic agenda and operators in the midst of world economic crisis is not really a government. This is all we can get from PDP!

How does having an Igbo man as CBN governor translate to progress for the Igbo Nation? Should it matter whether the CBN Gov. is Fulani or Ika, Igbo or Itshekiri, so long as he is the most qualified for the post?

ziddy:

How does having an Igbo man as CBN governor translate to progress for the Igbo Nation? Should it matter whether the CBN Gov. is Fulani or Ika, Igbo or Itshekiri, so long as he is the most qualified for the post?

It should not ordinarly matter, but when a northern is retired and is replaced by another northerner, whereas a retiring southerner is replaced by a northerner it becomes an issue for the seeming marginalized. All these happen in the face of the so-called federal character or quota system.

Why should one state out of 36 produce all the persons that make the economic decisions for 150 million people?

some of the colleagues in my office were in a heated argument on this topic. after the many english, the consensus was allowing the north to control our financial institution in addition to the fact that they now control and manage the oil industry is a bad sign. out cries of marginalization would not occur if important fabrics of our national life are spread between the geopolitical zones

Let us not fling ethnicity to the wind, it is part of our politics.

tymoti:

some of the colleagues in my office were in a heated argument on this topic. after the many english, the consensus was allowing the north to control our financial institution in addition to the fact that they now control and manage the oil industry is a bad sign. out cries of marginalization would not occur if important fabrics of our national life are spread between the geopolitical zones

Let us not fling ethnicity to the wind, it is part of our politics.

But ethnicity should take a back seat to merit. Nigerians are guilty of being silent when the incompetent fellow is from their neck of the woods.
We should not put an incompetent fellow in office simply in the name of federal character.

biina:

But ethnicity should take a back seat to merit. Nigerians are guilty of being silent when the incompetent fellow is from their neck of the woods.
We should not put an incompetent fellow in office simply in the name of federal character.

1. What is the simplest thing to do, since we know that ''federal character'' is counterproductive to merit?
2. Is it agreed that the south has more competent people than the north?
3. What to do to send the federal character syndrome to where it belongs?
4. If 2 above is correct, what happens to the rump of northerners when merit becomes the norm?

I dont really think there is a clash between Federal Character and merit

it is not an either or situation

we can achieve both simultaneously

Afaukwu:

1. What is the simplest thing to do, since we know that ''federal character'' is counterproductive to merit?

No, federal character is not in itself counter productive to merit. Every part of Nigeria has abundant talent that can deliver when given the opportunity. The problem is arises when federal character overwhelms merit. The basis aim of federal character is to protect the interest of all parties that non feels marginaliuzed, putting an incompetent fellow in office defeats that.

2. Is it agreed that the south has more competent people than the north?

No. Being competent and being qualified should not be confused. Irrespective, I believe any regions have enough brilliant minds to fill every key position. I have met brilliant minds from several parts of Nigeria, and the world. There is nothing racial or tribal about brilliancy or competency.

3. What to do to send the federal character syndrome to where it belongs?

Simply always let merit and competence take precedence, while the federal character is kept in view. 

4. If 2 above is correct, what happens to the rump of northerners when merit becomes the norm?

see response to 2

tymoti:

some of the colleagues in my office were in a heated argument on this topic. after the many english, the consensus was allowing the north to control our financial institution in addition to the fact that they now control and manage the oil industry is a bad sign. out cries of marginalization would not occur if important fabrics of our national life are spread between the geopolitical zones

Let us not fling ethnicity to the wind, it is part of our politics.

Does it really make sense to have ethnicity as part of your politics? Does it?

It is a shame ! I have admired the igbos for their rise from an impoverished , deprived ethnic group as at after the civil war, to the geopolitical zone with the lowest poverty rate and highest education rates at present. I do not think that the zone needs a CBN governor or even a president to go ahead . This also applies to other zones in Nigeria. As long as you patronize this tribal b***s***, they will continue to sell.