editorial-the-urgent-necessity-of-saving-nigeria-from-its-central-banker.html

MUST-READ EDITORIAL: The urgent necessity of saving Nigeria from its Central Banker

Mr Emefiele’s grasp of basic economics is abysmal. Cash in circulation does not fuel inflation.

https://twitter.com/elrufai/status/1625135898164621313?t=oKH1Ghk2j1COJuxKHRhSRA&s=19


Mr El-Rufai was reacting to this editorial:


The urgent necessity of saving Nigeria from its Central Banker

It is no longer news that the Central Bank of Nigeria has botched the latest attempt at redesigning the nation’s currency. Nor, given what was known about the level of preparedness of the relevant institutions at the exercise’s onset, has the restiveness that has attended the banknotes swap come as a surprise. Still, the ferocity of the streets’ response, especially the wanton destruction of property that has taken place, shocks. Doubtless, the Central Bank’s incitement of bank depositors against commercial banks – claiming they were the ones hoarding the new banknotes – worsened these outcomes.

The breakdown of relations between the president and state governors, and recourse by sections of the latter cohort to litigation at the Supreme Court to compel CBN to reinstate the old banknotes as legal tender was just as unseemly. Unsurprisingly, concern around the near-term health of the Fourth Republic coalesced around hope that the meeting late last week of the National Council of State (NCS) would somehow present a silver bullet to fix the problem.

Official numbers may not be out yet but the implications of this failure of monetary policy for consumer spending are that the damage to the economy will take a long time to fix. Back-of-the-envelope estimates already speak of output losses as severe as 3 percentage points in an economy where much of the growth projected for this year is about 3.2%, according to the International Monetary Fund. Nonetheless, the strongest headwinds in the country’s path today are of a political character.

Last week may have produced one of the most frightening weekends in the life of the Fourth Republic. A fact which underscores the even scarier admission that Nigeria’s democracy may be facing an existential crisis. Less than two weeks to a general election, what responses are now appropriate to a problem of this magnitude?

Previous calls by this newspaper for the replacement of the Central Bank governor have been met by worry that a change of helmsman in what is arguably one of the nation’s most important institutions, during a political transition as fraught as the current one promises, is ill-advised. Unfortunately, either through his earlier misguided, and eventually abortive, bid for political office, his utter disregard for the laws governing the operation of the CBN or in his management of the ongoing banknotes swap, Mr Godwin Ifeanyichukwu Emefiele has eerily proven himself a real and present threat to Nigeria’s desire to manage itself normally.

It is thus easy to agree with the apt observation of the Nigerian Governors Forum, in its recent communique, that what Mr Emefiele and CBN are operating is a currency confiscation programme, in which banknotes have been seized from the public, without the intention of giving it back to them, thereby exacerbating the level of tension in the polity at a rather inopportune period in our national life.

Mr Emefiele’s grasp of basic economics is abysmal. Cash in circulation does not fuel inflation. In order to address inflation, the most effective tool in a central bank’s kitty is its benchmark rate. Through his arbitrary debiting of banks to meet his equally arbitrary sense of banks’ cash reserve ratios, he has severed the transmission lines that connect the Central Bank’s monetary policy rate (MPR) to retail rates in the financial services sector. His understanding of the concept of the rule of law is louche at best. He still struggles to understand how his wanton breaking of the law on ways and means advances to the federal government is no different for its impact on the health of the polity, from the rioters who sought to compel banks to return their deposits by breaking and spoiling private and public property. He plays fast and loose with facts. Insisting that commercial banks were to blame for hoarding new banknotes that the CBN had supplied enough, only to turn around to admit that the Central Bank never printed enough in the first place. Against the backdrop of the needless loss of lives and damage to property that this latter foolishness led to, there are few legitimate arguments left for retaining the incumbent governor of the Central Bank in office.

PREMIUM TIMES sympathises with the National Council of State’s decision that more currency notes should be printed or the old notes should be brought back into circulation forthwith. We are, however, persuaded that in the light of the objective and subjective constraints that have come to light on the matter of banknotes swap, the most efficient solution is for the President to direct the immediate return of the old banknotes as legal tender until sufficient new notes are produced

There is abundant evidence that cash is the lifeblood of the Nigerian economy, where the informal sector accounts for more than 84% of employment and close to a third of domestic output. There is equal evidence that Mr Emefiele’s incompetent management of the monetary policy space has rendered the economy comatose. PREMIUM TIMES believes there is no better moment than immediately to infuse the economy with its lifeblood. But not before the pathogen is neutered.

https://www.premiumtimesng.com/opinion/editorial/581600-editorial-the-urgent-necessity-of-saving-nigeria-from-its-central-banker.html

Emefiele is the worst CBN governor in the history of Nigeria. He is a failure

Meanwhile, El-Rufai's grasp of bandits and BH terrorists atrocities is excellent. A well know BH commander who claimed he paid Fulani terrorists to stop killing southern Kaduna people? Werey gbogbo!

duro4chang:
Emefiele is the worst CBN governor in the history of Nigeria. He is a failure

What about the abysmal failure and catastrophe APC government led by Buhari whom Tinubu boasted he made president that retained Godwin Emefiele as CBN chair? Urchins and miscreants with myopic reasoning ability.

Racoon:
Meanwhile, El-Rufai's grasp of bandits and BH terrorists atrocities is excellent. A well know BH commander who claimed he paid Fulani terrorists to stop killing southern Kaduna people? Werey gbogbo!

Must everything be about politics? Our economy has almost collapsed completely under this Emefiele of a man. If this doesn't worry you then I'm scared for you.

Racoon:
What about the abysmal failure and catastrophe APC government led by Buhari whom Tinubu boasted he made president that retained Godwin Emefiele as CBN chair? Urchins and miscreants with myopic reasoning ability.

Emefiele is the worst CBN governor

This is no longer debatable.
Just compare the data with regards to exchange rate of the first year in office between Emefiele and Sanusi and the difference is as clear as day.

Emefiele Met Dollar at 165 when he was appointed on the 14th of June 2014, by the same date in 2015, the rate had gone up to 199 naira, after having touched 202 naira within the year.

All these happened under GEJ, which goes to show that Emefiele's incompentence did not start today, he just was able to do it under the radal and had low crude rate as an excuse for his failure all these while.

Compare that to Sanusi, who met dollar at 148 and only 3 naira was added after 12 months.

duro4chang:
Emefiele is the worst CBN governor in the history of Nigeria. He is a failure

9jatriot:
This is no longer debatable.
Just compare the data with regards to exchange rate of the first year in office between Emefiele and Sanusi and the difference is as clear as day.

Tell me what should have been the role of competent CBN governor as regards your statistics?

Trying to change the narrative!!!



Who appointed CBN governor?


Under whose directives is he doing what he's doing?



Apc fighting each other


ACN bloc vs CPC bloc


It's now obvious to them that the CPC northern bloc has collapsed into PDP


Continue grasping at straws

Noted.

An SS3 economics student knows that.

The only mystery is why he's still the CBN governor. If he won't resign, Buhari should axe him.

Pls lawyers in d house
Is'it right to head straight to supreme court with going to mayb high court or appeal court

Ipob gave us the dullest CBN governor we have ever had

Useless miscreant. Those of us who knew him in Zenith Bank always know he is a nonentity. An SSS-1 Economics student will do better than this glorified idiot called Emefiele

How bout yours on governance?

Naira redesign is biting deep

El-Rufai is right. It is wrong to assume that reducing the quantity of money in circulation will reduce inflationary pressures automatically.
What reduces inflation is high level of productivity and not the quantity of money in circulation. Inflation has negative or inverse relationship with production capacity.

Emefiele should seek a crash course in Monetary Economics.

The way El-Rufai is granting media interviews and insulting Emefiele (while exonerating Buhari) you will think that only Kaduna State is going through these hard times. There's more to it that meets the eyes!

Emeshiere is clueless just like his boss,Buhari.

This midget should stop already, why is he scared of attacking Buhari directly?

Please why is El rufai constituting nuisance.

Why is he crying more than the common man?
This dwarf hell rufai must be up to something.

Is Hell rufai the only gov. affected by the policy?

He is blaming everybody excerpt Buhari.

Ff

Don't Get it twisted


Baby don't cry
Hold your head up


Nigerians pls hold on a little it's almost over

Renew hope is here


Like if you believe we go win emefele

Share if you believe in Obident movement

Emefiele matter weak everybody.. People have been cursing him daily cus of the hardship he has placed on this country

Cc

El Rufai is right

I am actually agreeing with you that he is a failure especially when compared with Sanusi. You can read it again, I have enriched the details

duro4chang:
Tell me what should have been the role of competent CBN governor as regards your statistics?

Emefiele has really dealt with Elrufai. The guy has been crying and throwing tantrum all over the media space

Omo....