Almost a year in the saddle, President Bola Tinubu has ordered Olayemi Cardoso to resign his appointment as the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) owing to his inability to stop the poor performance of the economy, most especially, the free fall of Nigeria’s currency, the Naira.
The president gave the marching order to Cardoso before he left Nigeria for China, rebuffing the pleas and pressure from the acclaimed Yoruba Elders who had risen to Cardoso’s support to save his job. Cardoso, who reportedly secured the nomination for the plum job through the Yoruba Elders, allegedly lacks the knack to turn around the troubled institution and the poor economy he inherited.
Cardoso’s undoing, according to insiders, is his inability to live up to the promise he made to President Tinubu in January to salvage the Naira and return it to between N700 and N900 to $1 before May 29, 2024, and also, save the economy from the ruins it currently lays.
The naira began a historic fall against the dollar, droppingfrom the N950/$1 rate observed at the close of the week that Cardoso was appointed to N960/$1 by Monday of the week following his appointment as Nigeria’s upcoming central bank governor. It slipped further to N970/$1 in the early hours of Tuesday, the following day.
This decline, which started immediately after his nomination, has seen the local currency dip, plummeting by 117.41 per cent to N1645.626/$1 as of September 12, 2024, nearly one year after he took over from Folashodun Shonubi. The continuous crash of the Naira and the poor economy prevented the usual celebration of the return to democratic rule on May 29.
“The president is worried about the exchange rate and angry that Cardoso in one year in office could not revive the Naira to between N700 and N900 before May 29th as he promised. The President waited for him to actualise the promise by May 29, June 29, and July 29 before he got tired of waiting in August when he invited him to submit his resignation”, a source at the villa told InsideBusinessNG.
He stated further that Cardoso, on seeing the seriousness of the President, prostrated and begged the President whoinsisted that Cardoso should submit his letter of resignation the following day.
On the following day however, sources disclosed that during a meeting between Hadiza Bala-Usman, Special Adviser To the President on Policy Coordination and President Tinubu, Cardoso came in with Yoruba elders including Prince Dipo Eludoyin, Pius Akinyelure, the chairman of NNPC, Bisi Akande, a chieftain of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) and some others, and in the presence of Hadiza, begged President Tinubu to rescind the resignation order on Cardoso.
President Tinubu who reportedly was angry, rebuffed the Yoruba elders who together with Cardoso, begged the President who insisted that Cardoso should resign as it was obvious the CBN Governor was incapacitated for the task thrusted on him.
At this point, Hadiza Bala-Usman was asked to excuse them and the president was quoted as saying, “I told you to bring your resignation letter, you do not need to beg because you promised in January that you would revive the Naira before May 29th and I have been asking you if I should bring N700 or N900 for you to give me $1, but you can’t find it”.
“He also decried the state of the Naira and the poor run of the economy, stating it is time for those who cannot deliver to leave the government for people with ideas to turn the situation around for the better”, the source stated further that, “President Tinubu left the office angrily for his trip to China, leaving Cardoso and the elders waiting in his office”.
Olayemi Cardoso, an Economic and Development Policy Advisor, Financial Sector Leader, former Chairman of Citi Nigeria and former Commissioner for Economic Planning and Budget in Lagos, with over three decades of managerial experience was nominated for the CBN plum job by President Tinubu on September 15 and assumed office on September 22 together with his four deputies, Emem Usoro, Muhammad Dattijo, Philip Ikeazor and Bala Bello. The five were hitherto pencilled for appointment to the Bank of Industry (BoI).
They were cleared on September 26, 2023, by the National Assembly after their nomination by President Tinubu to replace the then-acting governor of the CBN, Folashodun Shonubi, and other deputy governors, Aishah Ahmad, Edward Lametek Adamu, and Kingsley Obiora who exited the apex bank following their involvement in the mess at the banking regulator during the tenure of the embattled former CBN Governor, Godwin Emefiele.
Besides the crash of the Naira, the Cardoso administration allegedly has relapsed into the Emefiele era of affluence and wastage at a time the economy has receded, details of which, sources said, have been compiled for President Tinubu’s attention.
He and his deputies reportedly bought SUVs valued at over N10 billion for their official use in addition to the 27 vehicles recovered from the embattled former CBN Governor, Emefiele. Cardoso, also allegedly expended N44 million and each of his deputies, expended between N28 and N33 million weekly on accommodation before they were allocated official quarters.
They came in September 2023 and up till now, the CBN audited account for 2023 is yet to be published while sourcesat the bank also alleged that their remunerations are dollar-denominated. All the CBN audited accounts during the tenure of Emefiele that were faulted and ordered to be restated, are still gathering dust without being addressed,nine months after the holes in them were exposed.
The apex bank’s spokesperson Hakama Sidi-Ali refused to comment on the allegations as she did not respond to media inquiries and telephone calls.
If Cardoso is booted out as ordered by President Tinubu, the CBN governor will go down in history as one with the shortest tenure at the apex bank.
(Inside Business Online)
