President Tinubu nominates Yemi Cardoso as Nigeria’s Central Bank Governor

President Bola Tinubu has nominated his former aide, Yemi Cardoso to head Nigeria’s Central bank.

President Bola Tinubu has nominated Olayemi Michael Cardoso as the next governor of Nigeria’s Central Bank. His nomination comes exactly four months after the president’s suspension of former Central Bank Governor Godwin Emefiele.

Cardoso’s appointment will need to be ratified by the Senate. Four deputy governors, Mrs. Emem Nnana Usoro; Mr. Muhammad Sani Abdullahi Dattijo; Mr. Philip Ikeazor and Dr. Bala M. Bello were also appointed to the leadership of the Central Bank, also pending Senate approval.

Cardoso—who will be leading the nation’s apex bank for the next five years upon confirmation—was the former chairman of Citibank Nigeria with over 30 years of experience, having sat on the boards of Nigerian subsidiaries of Texaco and Chevron and chaired the committee of EFInA, a financial sector development organisation supported by the Bill and Melinda Gates foundation.

Cardoso’s major test is the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) which convenes in two weeks where a decision will be made to maintain or raise interest rates in response to mounting inflation. Two months ago, the apex bank elected to raise interest rates by 25 basis points. This came after the board members disagreed on the best policy to control inflation in a cash-strapped economy. With Nigeria’s inflation driven by food and transport prices, as well as a significant arbitrage at the FX market, the new CBN governor already has work on his hands.
The next MPC meeting comes with much expectation that the Central Bank would hike their rates at least to 20%, according to experts.