Why Soludo was dropped –Northern Group
From MURPHY GANAGANA, Abuja
Friday, June 5, 2009

The Northern Patriotic Front (NPF) yesterday disclosed the underlying factor which militated against the re-appointment of the immediate past Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Professor Charles Chukwuma Soludo for a second term, despite his widely applauded reforms in the banking sector.


Soludo
•Photo: Sun News Publishing

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NPF National Chairman, Alhaji Ali Abacha, told Daily Sun in an exclusive interview in Abuja, that pressure was indeed, mounted on President Umaru Yar’Adua by formidable northern groups and power brokers in ensuring that Soludo was not given a second term of office. Their grievance was based on the belief by a cross section of northerners that most of his financial policies, especially relating to foreign exchange, were not favourable to the north.

According to Abacha, “Soludo introduced some policies that were too harsh for the North. So, when his tenure expired, we said there was no need for extension, that they should get somebody from the North who is competent. And because most of our people are not educated as they are basically farmers, we wanted somebody who would give priority attention to agriculture.”

While admitting that the erstwhile CBN boss exhibited competence in the discharge of his duties, the NPF however, insisted that most of his policies further pauperized the northern masses.

Said Abacha: “If you take the foreign exchange which has a large number of northerners involved in the business, he introduced a lot of stringent conditions and most of our people in the trade are not educated. They faced a tough times during his five year tenure. The policies are only good for advanced countries, not in Nigeria where education is still low and poverty still high, especially in the North”.

Reacting to allegations that President Yar’Adua play the ethnic card particularly with the appointment of core members of his economic team the Minister of Finance, Presidential Economic Adviser, Minister for National Planning, and the Governor of CBN, among others, the NPF said the appointments were made by President Yar’Adua in his quest for credible people to move the nation forward, adding that “there is nothing wrong in Yar’Adua appointing northerners in key positions”.

The NPF chairman spoke further on various appointments made so far by President Yar’Adua, against the backdrop of the group’s position at a recent meeting in Abuja . His words: “The Northern Patriotic Front rose from its last weekly meeting in Abuja where it X-rayed the actions of the President on various appointments made within the period as well as other national issues. The NPF commends the President for the confirmation of the appointment of Dr. Bernard Shaw Nwadialo as the Comptroller General of Customs. The meeting commended the President for his decisions and debunked the insinuation by some unpatriotic persons accusing him of being sectional in his appointments.

The NPF urges the President to continue in his efforts towards taking Nigeria to greater height, and hopes that by the appointment, the Comptroller General of Customs will use the opportunity to turn around the Nigeria Customs Service for the attainment of Vision 20-2020”

Abacha, who however, conceded that President Yar’Adua’s seven-point agenda is too bogus for effective implementation urged him to reduce his programmes to a manageable level. “If he had concentrated only on agriculture and power, we would have achieved a lot in the past two years of his administration,” he noted.

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