By Nik Ogbulie
A former bank CEO and notable financial expert, Mr Auten Obigwe, has applauded the appointment of Dr. Olayemi Cardoso as a very good one considering the background of the nominee when juxtaposed with the level of work he will be expected to do.He described Cardoso as one of the trail-blaizing new generation bankers who took the Nigerian banking space by storm and grew it to the extent that the industry gained good strength to brace the last banking sector consolidation. A multi-functional manager Obigwe believes that Cardoso may have completed the technical composition of the President’s men that will fashion out the ways and means of returning the economy to a robust position.Obigwe is of the opinion that with his background as former Citibank executive, Cardoso has the benefit of the network of his former colleagues at Citibank who are known to have taken very high management positions in the several places he may need to pass through to get his work done.There are strong indications that the President is optimistic that he would do better if he works with the men he knew very well. Cardoso was a commissioner of Economic planning in Lagos State under the much dramatised Bola Tinubu’s administration in Lagos.Financial sector watchers believe that Cardoso’s confirmation by the Senate is as good as done based on his sparkling records in public and private services. He is considered as very disciplined, having passed through St Gregory’s College, Lagos, considered as one of the best Catholic Schools in Nigeria.However, indications are rife that the legality of the nomination may become a major point of discussion while waiting for Senate confirmation , assuming that the suspended CBN governor, Dr Godwin Emefiele, has not been eased off using the much trumpeted Plea Bagaining.It is not yet clear how Cardoso’s resumption will play out if Emefiele’s case remains unresolved.The nomination came on the heels of the 2023 World Bank/IMF Annual Meetings which kicks off from October 9 in Marrakesh, Morocco. Prior to today, the position and possibility of a strong Nigerian delegate was in focus based on the country’s new position as one of the Highly Indebted Nations (HIN) as recognised by the Bretton Woods institutions. It could be recollected that in 2015, Nigeria’s position in the Council of Ministers of Finance during the World Bank Annual Meetings was vacant based on the fact that the Buhari administration was not able to produce its ministers early enough, leaving the CBN governor, Emefiele and Dr Mamoud Isa-Dutse Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Finance, to lead the delegation. Today Nigeria may go through that lane on a converse proportion, if Cardoso’s confirmation was delayed.Nigerians have been keenly waiting for this appointment based on the topsyturvydom in the financial market where devaluation, deregulation and inflation which gone wild remained the core functions of the apex bank.This directive is alleged to be in conformity with Section 8 (1) of the Central Bank of Nigeria Act, 2007, which vests in the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, the authority to appoint the Governor and Four (4) Deputy Governors for the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), subject to confirmation by the Senate of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.The Presidency has also announced the appointment of four new Deputy Governor who would also nawait confirmation by the Senate. Prominent among them are Mrs Emem Nnanna, an Executive Director with UBA Plc and Phillip Ikeazor.They include ,(1) Mrs. Emem Nnana Usoro(2) Mr. Muhammad Sani Abdullahi Dattijo(3) Mr. Philip Ikeazor(4) Dr. Bala M. Bello
