EMEFIELE REORGANISES CBN, REDEPLOYS DEPUTY GOVS

The Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Mr. Godwin Emefiele, on Wednesday began the reorganisation of the apex bank with the redeployment of the Deputy Governors of the bank.
The development was confirmed by a statement by Mr. Isaac Okoroafor on behalf of the Head of Corporate Communications Department.
The statement said with the new changes, the DG, Corporate Services, Alh Suleiman Barau, is now the DG, Operations, while Dr. Kingsley Moghalu, currently the DG, Operations, returns to the Financial Systems Stability Directorate.
It added that Mr. Adebayo Adelabu, who was in charge of Financial Systems Stability, had been made the DG, Corporate Services, while Dr. Sarah Alade retains her position as the Deputy Governor, Economic Policy Directorate.

CBN BLAMES COMMERCIAL BANKS OVER SCARCITY OF LOWER DENOMINATIONS

THE apex bank, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) on Friday breaks silence over the persistent scarcity of lower denominations of naira in the market, accusing the commercial banks of flouting CBN directives, which instructed that all banks must withdraw monies in a minimum of four different denominations.
The Acting Controller of Yola CBN branch, Alhaji Abba Baba Titiwu, told The Guardian Friday in Yola that the attitude of commercial banks operators has constituted a harsh economic environment for small scale business men and women due to lack of lower denominations of naira in the market.

CBN ACTING GOVERNOR UNFOLDS AGENDA, RULES OUT NAIRA DEVALUATION

Acting Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Dr. (Mrs.) Sarah O. Alade this afternoon unfolded her agenda, among them the maintaining of price and financial system stability.
Dr. Alade, who spoke at her maiden press briefing in Abuja following her assumption of office yesterday, also vowed to defend the country’s currency, stressing that CBN “has no immediate plans to devalue the Naira.”
Below are excerpts of her address:
“Following the directive by the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Dr. Goodluck Ebele Jonathan, GCFR, that I should take charge of the affairs of the Central Bank of Nigeria, as the Acting Governor, I wish to use this opportunity to reassure all our stakeholders including the international community that the recent changes at the CBN will not in any way affect the monetary policy direction and pursuit of the Bank’s primary mandate of maintaining price and financial system stability.

SANUSI’S SUSPENSION: CBN ASSURES STAKEHOLDERS OF STABILITY, SMOOTH OPERATION OF FINANCIAL MARKET

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), has assured stakeholders and investors of the stability and smooth functioning of the financial market, irrespective of the suspension of Governor Sanusi Lamido Sanusi.
This is contained in a statement issued by Mr Isaac Okorafor, the Deputy Director, Corporate Communication of the CBN on Thursday in Abuja.
The News Agency of Nigeria reports that Sanusi was on Thursday suspended by President Goodluck Jonathan for acts of financial recklessness and misconduct among other allegations.

CBN AWARDS N9.5BN CONTRACT TO BANKRUPT FIRM

Apex bank defends contract award
Dermalog, the company which the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) gave the nod to install a biometric payment system for Nigerian banks is bankrupt, investigations have revealed.
The German firm went into voluntary liquidation in 2012 and was technically broke at home (in Europe) at the material time that it got the contract in Nigeria.
Bundesdruckerei bought up Dermalog for US$5.8 million, which amounted to 22. 3 per cent of its private placement in stocks and sent the German firm riding in what is called the plus/minus line. Dermalog is a small privately-owned company in Germany with a total of 60-70 employees.
Recently, it advertised positions for 32 engineers for employment openings. The development has prompted industry watchers to believe that Dermalog was building a new workforce to enable it execute the Nigerian contract.

SECURITY SCREENING BEGINS FOR NEXT CBN GOVERNOR

•Onasanya, Aganga, Chike-Obi, Aig-Imoukhuede, Peterside on list
The race for the successor to the outgoing governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Mallam Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, has kicked off in earnest with the commencement of security screening of five possible candidates for the job, according to sources close to the presidency.
THISDAY gathered at the weekend that the Managing Director/CEO of First Bank of Nigeria Limited, Mr. Stephen Olabisi Onasanya; serving Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Dr. Olusegun Aganga; immediate past Managing Director/CEO of Access Bank Plc, Mr. Aigboje Aig-Imoukhuede; founder and pioneering Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer of Stanbic IBTC Plc, Mr. Atedo Peterside; and current Managing Director of the Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON), Mr. Mustafa Chike-Obi, have been discreetly screened by the Department of State Security Service (DSS) for the job.

CBN REMOVES $250,000 LIMIT ON FOREX SALES TO BDCS

The maximum weekly forex sales to Bureau De Change (BDC) operators were, yesterday, removed by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).
The action, contained in a circular to Authorised Dealers and BDC operators, said the action was meant to shore up liquidity in the FOREX market. Dollar scarcity in the market had affected naira exchange rate in recent months, hence the policy review.
The circular, signed by CBN Director, Trade and Exchange, Batari Musa, said the policy review followed the circular of September 26, last year in which a limit of $250,000 was put in place.

AGANGA, NGAMA JOIN RACE FOR CBN GOVERNOR'S JOB

•Successor may be named earlier than expected
Serving Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Mr. Olusegun Aganga, and the Minister of State for Finance, Dr. Yerima Ngama, have joined the list of contenders for the job of Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), a position which will be vacant when Sanusi Lamido steps down possibly in March when he proceeds on terminal leave, according to sources close to the presidency.
THISDAY gathered that both men are being tipped for the job because of their performance in the trade and investment and finance ministries, as well as their respective backgrounds in investment and commercial banking.
Aganga, who has the confidence of President Goodluck Jonathan, is also currently being adjudged as probably the best minister in the trade and industry portfolio in years.

BATTLE FOR SOUL OF CBN: INTRIGUES, SUSPENSIONS AND SPECULATIONS AHEAD

BARELY five months to the expiration of tenure of Mallam Sanusi Lamido Sanusi as the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), the imminent vacant seat had already generated several speculations and anxiety, especially in 2013. Up until now, some of the speculations are yet to materialize. But 2014 would present uniqueness to the conjectures, as those speculations would either be true or not. This is because, in months now, the new CBN helmsman will emerge either in acting or substantive capacity.
At present however, there seems to be several pointers to renewed jostling, high-level lobbying and open declarations of interests, thus fuelling further speculations. For one thing, one of the assessed contenders, Aigboje Aig-Imoukhuede, was by providence, chance and/or opportunity, relieved one of his loads as he retired from the top seat of Access Bank, giving him more freedom to pursue his ambition to the finish line. Even among Sanusi’s lieutenants, there are assessed opinions and body language associated with interest on the coveted seat.

SANUSI TO LEAVE OFFICE APRIL 1

Governor of Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Mallam Lamido Sanusi will proceed on retirement leave effective April 1st 2013, two months to the end of his tenure.
It would be recalled that President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua nominated Sanusi as Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria on June 1, 2009 and his appointment was confirmed by the Senate on June 3, 2009. Hence his five year tenure is scheduled to end on June 3rd 2014.
Contrary to speculations that he has been forced to immediately procede on retirement leave, Saturday Vanguard investigations revealed that Sanusi will still be CBN Governor till March 31st.
Though, when contacted, Director of Corporate Communications, Mr. Ugo Okoroafor said he was not aware of the CBN Governor being forced to proceed on retirement leave, a highly placed regulatory official, who pleaded anonymity confirm that Sanusi is scheduled to proceed on terminal leave after March 31st. He however said this is normal, and it is not true that the Governor is being forced to proceed on leave.
“It is a normal thing; some people go on six months, some on three months. So, there is nothing abnormal about it. You cannot force your Central Bank Governor to go on leave, it could damage the economy”, the source said.

NNPC ATTACKS SANUSI OVER ALLEGED MISSING $49.8BN

The spat over an alleged missing oil revenue worsened on Friday as the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) accused the governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Mallam Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, of playing politics with oil revenue, emphasising that no $49.8 billion is missing.
The corporation has also clarified that the shortfall admitted at the Federation Account Allocation Committee meeting referred to monthly crude returns rather than the issue of missing money the CBN alleged.
Addressing a world press conference in Abuja, the NNPC Group Managing Director, Andrew Yakubu, said Sanusi was playing politics over oil revenue accounts which the CBN on a monthly basis reconciled alongside other agencies like revenue service and petroleum resources department.
Expressing surprise at the refusal of the CBN governor to retract the allegation, Yakubu said “if not for politics, there is no reason for the allegation on a matter in which CBN and other agencies sit monthly and on which the bank has never raised any objections.”
Yakubu posited that the process for revenue remittance was clear and that the NNPC was not in the business of withholding any crude oil receipts due the Federation Account or any other statutory remittances.

CBN WORRIED OVER POLITICISATION OF UNREMITTED $49.8BN REVENUE

•Says Alison-Madueke has instructed PWC to audit NNPC •Govs tackle president
The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has expressed concern over the politicisation of the letter written by its governor, Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, to President Goodluck Jonathan notifying him of the non-remittance of $49.8 billion accruing from oil revenues into the Federation Account by the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation over an 18-month period.
The CBN, in statement issued Thursday by its Director, Corporate Communications, Ugochukwu Okoroafor, said it would neither confirm nor deny the existence of such a letter, adding that it considered “any discussion by it on the alleged letter to be appropriate”.

CBN MOVES TO BLOCK INFORMATION LEAKAGE

Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Mallam Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, is getting increasingly uncomfortable with the constant leakage of decisions taken at the bank’s board meetings to the public domain, THISDAY can reveal today.
An insider source who would not want to be named told THISDAY that the need to control such unguarded and unauthorised leakage within the apex bank played a role in the overall decision to implement best practice through the newly-launched information security management system in the organisation.

OUR ECONOMY IS STRONG – CBN

The Central Bank of Nigerian (CBN) has said that the country’s economy is strong and sound for many years now.
In a reaction to some reports yesterday, CBN spokesman Ugo A. Okoroafor said in a statement its Deputy Governor Financial System Stability, Dr. Kingsley Moghalu, was misquoted in his lecture delivered over the weekend at Nsukka, Enugu State.
He said the economy has a robust macroeconomic environment including a stable banking system, foreign exchange stability, and single digit inflation.

CBN BANS IMPORTATION OF DOLLAR, OTHERS

IN its determination to save the naira and the Nigerian economy from external threats and dominance, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has banned the importation of all foreign currency, except with the approval of the CBN.
The latest move is sequel to the Bank’s withdrawal of the operating licences of 20 Bureaux de Change (BDCs) found to have purchased and sold huge sums of United States dollars with no documentation to show details of the transactions.

N100BN DECEASED ‘CUSTOMERS’ FUNDS TRAPPED IN BANKS

The House of Representatives yesterday disclosed that about N100bn belonging to deceased banks’ customers is presently trapped in dormant accounts across the country.

According to the lawmakers, while the banks continue to trade with this money, beneficiaries of the deceased persons’ estates are living in penury, with many unable to feed.

The House therefore mandated its Committee on Justice and Judiciary to liaise with the Chief Justice of Nigeria, CJN, Justice Aloma Mukhtar to relax the requirements for access to bank accounts of deceased persons by their next of kin and dependants.

CBN TO CHANGE N5, N10, N20 AND N50 FROM POLYMER TO PAPER

CBN is poised to stop the printing of small denomination Naira in polymer notes because they fade quickly.

Its Deputy Governor, Mr Tunde Lemo, disclosed this in an interview with theNews Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Sunday in Washington on the sideline of the ongoing Spring Meeting of the World Bank and the IMF.

``By the middle of the year, we will start to produce the second generation of lower denomination notes, now in paper not in polymer.’’

CBN GOVERNOR: I DON’T NEED SECOND TERM

Central Bank of Nigeria Governor Sanusi Lamido Sanusi may have foreclosed the possibility of a second term in office after the expiration of his term next year.

Sanusi was quoted in an interview with the London-based Banker Magazine as saying he had completed his assignment at the apex bank and would not be seeking a second term in office.

He said critics of his tight monetary policy had forgotten how unstable the nation’s financial system was just three years ago.

Though perceived to be controversial, Sanusi, who took over from Prof. Chukwuma Soludo as the apex bank’s governor on June 3, 2009, is believed to be in good standing for re-appointment by President Goodluck Jonathan given his impressive record in office as CBN governor in the past four years.

CBN DELAYING ACQUISITION OF 30 NEW AIRCRAFT–MINISTER

Minister of Aviation Princess Stella Adaeze Oduah says Nigeria will acquire 30 new aircraft as soon as the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) gives the go ahead.

Princess Oduah told our reporter exclusively shortly after she received the 2012 Champion Man of The Year Award in Lagos Tuesday night that all the necessary approvals needed to acquire the 30 aircraft have been obtained from the presidency and the ministry of finance but the CBN is yet to come up with the details of how the airlines would access the aircraft and pay back.

CBN TO EXTEND CASHLESS POLICY TO FCT, RIVERS, KANO, ABIA FROM JULY 1

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has concluded plans to extend the cashless policy to Rivers, Kano, Anambra and Abia States as well as the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) from July 1.

CBN Deputy Governor (Operations), Mr. Tunde Lemo, told THISDAY in an exclusive interview in Abuja that the aforementioned states and the FCT were chosen because of the large volume of cash transactions in some of their major cities such as Aba, Kano, Port Harcourt and Onitsha.

The cashless policy, whose implementation began in Lagos in January, last year, is aimed at reducing the dominance of cash in the system. The policy specifies penal charges for individuals and corporate organisations that want to withdraw or lodge cash above prescribed limits.