Yar'Adua drops Soludo, Ribadu. others from Economic team
From Mathias Okwe, Abuja

http://www.guardiannewsngr.com/news/article05/240807

CENTRAL Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Governor, Prof. Chukwuma Soludo, was yesterday a casualty of President Umaru Yar'Adua's new reform agenda.

Meanwhile, the Minister of Finance, Dr. Shamsudeen Usman, and the Minister of State for Finance, Chief Aderemi Babalola, have made public their declared assets.

Soludo lost his membership of the reconstituted Economic Management Team (EMT) he had initiated as the Chief Executive of the National Planning Commission and Chief Economic Adviser to former President Olusegun Obasanjo in 2003.

Soludo is not alone. Also dropped are the Director-General of the Bureau for Public Enterprises (BPE). Mrs. Irene Chigbue; the Comptroller-General of Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), Mr. Jacob Gyang Buba and the Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Malam Nuhu Ribadu.

The membership of the team, which is to steer the economic direction of the Yar'Adua Administration, has been reduced from 28 to 11 with three other members as technical support group.

The new members are: Minister of National Planning (Vice Chairman), Minister of State, Finance; Minister of State, Petroleum; Honorary Strategic Adviser to the President on Energy; Economic Adviser to the President; Deputy Governor (Economic Policy, CBN; Special Assistant to the President (Power); and Special Assistant to the President (Petroleum).

The others are: Chairman, Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS); and Director of Research and Statistics (CBN).

The Technical Support; members are: Group Managing Director, NNPC; Director-General, DMO; and Accountant-General of the Federation.

Finance Minister Shamsudeen Usman who is the chairman of EMT, disclosed that the President has also approved that the membership of the economic team be boosted by the inclusion of the private sector, the Nigeria Economic Summit Group (NESG) and the Nigerian Economic Society (NES).

The team's immediate assignment is the consideration of Soludo's Naira re - denomination policy.

Dr. Usman, explained yesterday that President Yar'Adua reduced the membership because it was wieldy and some members in the past never made useful contributions.

He said that Soludo, on the directive of President Yar'Adua, is expected to brief the Team next week on the new Naira policy's workability. He assured Nigerians of a good working relationship with his former boss at the CBN.
Usman debunked insinuations that a sour relationship exists between him and the CBN governor and advised Nigerians not to create a crisis where none exists.

"We have met with Prof. Soludo a number of times and spoken on the phone several times after I was appointed. He was even happy that I was appointed Minister of Finance given that we are coming from the same background which will make for a very good working relation. I am therefore surprised to be reading in the press that there exists acrimony between us. There is nothing like that. We enjoyed a cordial relationship while I was at the CBN and even now,'' Usman further submitted.

Meanwhile, Usman and the Minister of State for Finance, Chief Adeyemi Babalola, yesterday made public their assets as declared to the Code of Conduct Bureau.

The lists indicated that Usman is worth N470 million in liquid cash and assets and shares in 25 companies amounting to 5.1 million, while Babalola is worth N389.73 million.

What could this portend for Prof Soludo, the CBN Governor ?
What about Ribadu, Chigbue and Jacob Gyang ?

My bet is that some of these guys won't retain their jobs through out the tenure of Yar Adua

Ribadu might keep his job - probably just dropped him from the EMT because he is a policeman and does not need to be in the EMT to be effective

Jacob Gyang, Comptroller General of Customs might also retain his job and just like Ribadu, he does not need to be in the EMT to do a great job in Customs

But Soludo and Chigue- BPE Director General- are probably on their way out.

I have a gut feeling Yar Adua is not happy with their style or performance.

Chiggue's involvement in the privatisation programme of Obasanjo left a sour taste in the mouth of most Nigerians. She has a case to answer. In fact, rumour has it she was supposed to have been sacked along with Kupolokun.

Soludo's crime - I don't know but it could range from this new naira re-denomination to Usman Shamsudeen, his deputy at CBN and now Finance Minister, not being happy with him. It will be such a shame for Soludo to end ingloriously with a sack.

Truly, this niaira re-denomination might be his undoing as he will have a hard time explaining why he spent so much of our money introducing N1000 notes and coins- which nobody uses- and in less than one year, is coming out with the introduction of new currency, with its attendant high cost of printing and public enlightenment.

One great lesson from Chigbue's case - just do your work and do it well. Stop trying to favour the government of the day or sucking up to the arse of the president trust me, when the chips are down you will be abadoned. Obj has abadoned his erstwhile foot soldiers to their fate

Yar Adua is also begining to prove that he never agreed with most of the policies or approach of Obj's govt.

what's new?-------------- -----------------


_{If you like, keep your gaze fixed on the "crystal ball" from now to eternity---you will still see the same old thing!-----------an "Evil wind" ---instead of the wishful[b]--------"Sweet wind"[/b]}

YarAdua wil not sack Soludo, but will make him resign by reducing his input into Nigeria's economy minimal - the same thing OBJ did to Okonjo-Eweala. How will the President tell me that the CBN governor has has not been making significant contributions to National Economic team? I wonder ooo

Hope he is redeployed to Ministry of Culture and Tourism

every new day I find more reasons not to trust this president.

Yar'Adua drops Soludo, Ribadu. others from Economic team
From Mathias Okwe, Abuja http://www.guardiannewsngr.com/news/article05

CENTRAL Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Governor, Prof. Chukwuma Soludo, was yesterday a casualty of President Umaru Yar'Adua's new reform agenda. Soludo lost his membership of the reconstituted Economic Management Team (EMT) he had initiated as the Chief Executive of the National Planning Commission and Chief Economic Adviser to former President Olusegun Obasanjo in 2003.

@funloving and all,
I also have a strong gut feeling that Soludo is very much on his way out. This is going to be rather unfortunate because while he has good intentions, his poor judgement might have cost him dearly. This is one of the disadvantages of having academics occupying political offices at times; most often, they fail to understand or take into full consideration the over-arching political influence even if the post is supposed to be autonomous, in short they usually fail to 'think-outside-the-box.'

First, he probably did not read very well the changes in the political climate after the elections that brought in Yar'adua, still wanting to operate like he is under OBJ. In addition, regardless of the autonomy of the central bank, he goofed miserably by unilaterally setting a major 'economic agenda' for the whole country without the backing of the President/presidency. Furthermore, while the stated overall objective of the 'revaluation/redecimalisation/recalibration etc' of the naira is to strengthen the economy and position the nation among the world's largest economy, this MUST be part and parcel of a comprehensive, integrated and multisectoral development framework for the nation, not just the Central Bank to unilaterally decide and perform and other sectors expected to fall in line. That is more like a cacophonic orchestra with different players playing different tunes at different rate and the 'conductor' not aware of who plays what under the guise of 'autonomy.'

Also, a 'major agenda' like the redecimalization' should involve all the stakeholders in its' planning i.e labour, private sector, international partners/funders, policy makers etc and not planning to embark on mobilisation after declaring such an agenda. Whatever happens, this is lesson to all: in a country where under-performance is the norm at all levels, when somebody does his or her job normally or as expected, the individual apparently appears to be a "super-performer", and becomes surrounded by praise-singers and given all sorts of immodest awards like the "best central bank governor in the world"; (I wonder what you'll call Mr Alan Greenspan! know him?) these can get into the persons' sub-conscious and they develop a sort of "God-complex."
Even a very brilliant idea, when it is not well planned in an open-minded manner and timed, can become a very stupid one. Isn't it rather strange and unfortunate, to have an "Economic Management Team" for a country without the head of the nations' Central Bank??. Amazing, the handwriting is clearly on the wall.

Nigeria makes me bleed sometimes.
Soludo is one of the best public officials we have seen in this part of the world
and he has become a victim of petty acrimony. For sustained development, Nigeria needs a person at the helm of affairs for a pretty long period of time. Yaradua should not pander to the interest of some blindly-anti-obasanjo hawks that want to see EVERYTHING dislodged unless we would go back to pre-reform period (this is not to say obj was very successful but we needed him).

Soludo's naira re-denomination is good in principle and rather than vilify him, the new financminister should work with him to mitigate any negative consequences.

If Nigeria wants to be among the top 20 economies in the world, we need bold visionaries like soludo, not beaurocratic mongers, yaradua is acting funny i must say, more interested in asserting his own independence than leading with the needed urgency.

Soludo may be brilliant but he is making a mistake which is that of not involving or carrying everybody along

A Banker friend of mine told me that prior to the introduction of the new notes and coins, banks were never informed. He just woke up one day and announced the introduction without finding out from the banks how their customers, the users of the currencies, will respond to such monies.
We all know the story today. The coins are not being used, even beggars I heard, reject the coins.

Concerning the banking consolidation, it was also through a fiat of sort. Even his CBN management team was suprised. Thank God that one successful anyway.

Now the re-denomination is also taking everybody by surprise. No prior information or consultation. Just a CBN Governor fiat of we all start using the new currency by August 1, 2008. Worst case, neither the President nor the Finance Minster it seems, were informed.

You don't do such a thing, even in developed countries. When trying to initiate such far reaching reforms with deep consequences for the nation, the least you can do is first inform your boss, the President lest you be seen as either being insurbodinative or arrogant. This is not the kind of things the President should read in the papers like all other Nigerians

Like Batu said, when you occupy a position with political sensitivity, you have to play some politics, one of which is to carry everybody along. Afterall, you need people to achieve your goals.

kafirs are expendable, its the Northern Way

One great lesson from Chigbue's case - just do your work and do it well. Stop trying to favour the government of the day or sucking up to the arse of the president trust me, when the chips are down you will be abadoned. Obj has abadoned his erstwhile foot soldiers to their fate


Yar Adua is also beginning to prove that he never agreed with most of the policies or approach of Obj's govt.

Ask yourself, how long has Chigbue being in her current position? She certainly don't seem to me
like someone who has been used and abandoned, she has outlived a lot of political appointees by
any stretch of the imagination. I doubt if she will miss the job much if she is let go now.

Yar Adua seems to be setting himself up for failure the way he is headed. . . can't say much
for some of the decisions that he has been making lately other than they were being done
to placate certain groups of crying babies. The chicken will certainly come home to roost when
the blow back effect starts to occur.

Oh well, what is new? Hoping and finding a good leader will be big news in Nigeria, ending up
with leaders of mediocrity just so happen to be the order of the day.

My worry is that Nigeria never utilises her best brains to the fullest. Remember Okonjo Iweala? If Soludo is frustrated out, what then happens to his 13 point agenda? Nigeria, na wah ooooo

I don't think that Soludo will embark on any policy without at least informing the finance minister or the president in a country like ours. I really doubt it. he seems that he is paying the price of not well thought out policy.

Though the CBN and his governor and team should be politically neutral and independence, but this things takes time. Britain has only granted independence to her'central bank' (Bank of England) only about 10 years ago. so the CBN will usually be part of the economic and political tool of the govt of the day. Therefeore Soludo will not only have to agree this thing with Finance minister but with the president and the Economic team, and also consult stakeholders , which I will be shocked if he has not done so.

OBJ gave CBN and EFCC and some other parastatal free hand and that is why they wanted to carry on as usual.(and Rightfully so)

Yar Ardua tried curtailling the power of Ribadu and the people of Nigeria reject it immediately. He is now doing that with Soludo, on this one he would be successful as Soludo got the naira thing wrong.

The principle and idea is good but to change currency twice in two/three years demonstrate He(Soludo) lack of judgement on this particular issue.

He is one of the best CBN governor we have in recent times and arguably the best of all times but he has some explanation to do with the succession in currency changing as if we have a crises(God forbid).

I have said it before and I will say it again, he needed to be reprimanded gently and brought back to earth, but he should be let go on with his good job.

While on this topic, only God knows why Okonjo Iwenla was sacked or is it just cabinet rescuffle and

why did Yar adua replaces with wife with Husband as Finance minister as if there are no more competent people in the country, and why the Ministry did not go to a south western person since South east was there before and then the North. These are just thought in our politically no correct country.

Whatever he Yar adua is thinking or doing should not touch our dear Dora Akinyuli, a wonderful woman for that job. Otherwise he will risk impeachment from ordianry Nigerians.

In principle changing people is not a bad idea if the new people will have the zeal and the energy to do their bests like their predecessor in their given portfolio.

May God bless us and our country Nigeria.

Let's hope that Yar'Adua will not become another Shagari and ruin the numerous economic gains of the recent past.

Let's hope that OBJ have not put another pushover in office.

Although no link (source was posted) but this is where we seem headed:

https://www.nairaland.com/nigeria/topic-74769.0.html

If indeed true, this Yar Adua guy will be toast in a few years, he is surrounded
by the wrong people. If Soludo actually goofed by not informing the Presidency
of the planned re-denomination, is that reason enough for all this?

Let me guess, the Attorney General or Minister of Finance wrote a brief memo to
Yar Adua on this and here we are. . .

Its official:

http://africa.reuters.com/business/news/usnBAN446642.html

I can't help myself, but this "Chief Law Officer" business will kill
Nigeria o o o!

They are starting to interfere with the economy.

I can't help myself, but this "Chief Law Officer" business will kill
Nigeria o o o!

abi o my friend. may God continue to help us

Nigeria is such a joke.

Weather Soludo have goofed with his latest Naira policy should not be the reason to sack him or make him feel its not worth it to continue his job .Weather we like it or not , Soludo is very much part of the reason why the outside world is beginning to have some confidence in the Nigerian economy .Should this one "wrong' policy now overshadow all that he has achieved and bring about his downfall ?
If Soludo will go or be forced to resign , how do you think the outside world would view our president and his policies ? I dont mean to say that we would be ruled based on what other think about us, but i do feel that yaradua might be trying too much to pacify some sections of the country that feel Obj have not favored them during his tenure and that is not good for the country .

In which country is the Head of the Central Bank excluded from the Economic Team?

We all saw what Bernanke (Head of the Federal Reserve Board, the equivalent of the CBN in the US) did to stabilize the stock market slide in the US.

I don't think it is proper to have removed Soludo from the Economic Team, though it is common knowledge that this is usually a first step towards removal (remember Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala). I think he should have been advised to be more inclusive in his decision making processes.

A government's economic policy rests on 2 pillars-Monetary and fiscal policy.Soludo happens to be directly responsible for monetary policy and common sense demands that he be in such a "National Economic Team".

this so called 'economic team' is an advisory body, CBN still retains its mandate of overseeing monetary policy. I don't see the need for this 'team' to include Soludo, especially since their first duty is to review the re-denomination policy of the CBN, that would amount to sitting as a judge over your own case.

unless Soludo is outrightly removed, he still can exercise the independence as granted the CBN by law. I dont see it as a big deal, besides other people not exactly pertinent to the issue were also dropped such as the customs head and a few others.

The team is a relic of the Obj era, its specific duties should be outlined before we can actually say with certainty who and who should be a member of the 'team'. Besides, the Finance Minister himself is a former CBN deputy governor, it is not inconceivable that he will protect Soludo's interests/viewpoints in the team's deliberations

Presumably,the Team deals with the Nigerian economy as a whole,hence,the Finance Minister should also be excused,since that will amount to him being a judge in his own case.

The problem is not whether he retains his independence but the utility of having the person in charge of monetary policy,in such a body.We don't know the full remit of the Team but I presume,from its name and members,that the nature of its function is advisory and deliberative in respect of the economy.That demands the prescence of the head of the CBN

Point taken I-man, but I still believe as long as there is sufficient input from the CBN side to the team, Soludo's personal membership as the head of the CBN is not really the issue.

In any case, the VP in charge of Economic Policy, as well as the Research and Statistics Director from the CBN are both members, so I believe these two will be able to adequately articulate and communicate Soludo's ideas and visions to the rest of the team.

I believe people are reading this as a slight on Soludo or an effort to reduce his influence, with two of his lieutenants on board, I think the CBN's position is adequately covered

Naija never ceases to amaze, This is a country where :
*an islamic study graduate becomes the finance minister
*a public servant becomes a commisioner for health
*a professional finance expert is moved to the position of minister for foreign affairs
*an unconfirmed senator elect is 'made' the senate-president.
*anyone can be appointed as the minister for aviation
WHAT AM I SAYING?
IN A COUNTRY WHERE ANY THING GOES( B'COS YOU ARE CONNECTED TO THE POWER HOUSE), RATHER THAN BY MERIT AND PATROITISM, SHE WILL ALWAYS LIVE HER LIFE BACKWARDS.
EXPECT THE WORST UNLESS WE CHANGE

@k9ine
This situation is not unique to Nigeria. You don't have to have a degree in Economics to be the minister of finance.

@Tornadoz
I do agree with you, but you will agree with me that, if you dig into the events or reasons leading to such appointments(in Nigeria), most are so politically tainted that the appointtee is a stooge or softly put, a hardline party faithfull, leading to a situation where party comes first before nation.
In the end he/she is accountable only to their party leadership, and not the nation state.
Sey you grab!

k9ine:

Naija never ceases to amaze, This is a country where :
*an islamic study graduate becomes the finance minister

I thought Shamsudeen Usman holds a PHD in economics from the LSE,University of London?

He was probably talking about the former Min of State Nenadi Usman, but she studied Geography as far as I know