Buhari Hosts Emefiele, Congratulates Him On Re-Appointment
President Muhammadu Buhari on Monday played host to the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Godwin Emefiele at the presidential villa in Abuja.
The highly elated Emefiele, shook hands with President Buhari who congratulated him over his recent re-appointment as the governor of the apex bank.
Economic Confidential recalls that President Buhari, last week nominated Emefiele for a second term in office and forwarded his name to the Senate for confirmation.
Emefiele was first appointed in 2014 by former president Goodluck Jonathan and was retained when Buhari came to office in 2015.
The letter for his reappointment was sent to the senate last Wednesday.
By the CBN Act, the senate must confirm the nomination before it can take effect.
This is the first time since 1999, when Nigeria returned to democracy, that anyone would be nominated to serve two terms as CBN governor.
Before assuming the office of the CBN governor, the 57-year-old banker was the group managing director of Zenith Bank Plc. Emefiele was at the helm of affairs when the country slipped into its worst recession in 29 years.
In 2015 when global oil prices began to decline, there had been calls for the devaluation of the naira.
However, Buhari opposed the idea. As CBN governor, Emefiele introduced various interventions to ensure that the naira was kept stable.
These interventions included introducing a list of items for whose import foreign exchange was made unavailable. That initial list of 41 items now contains 43 items. He also introduced an investors and exporters window while directing banks to sell forex to customers over the counter for basic travel allowance (BTA), medical and education bills. With help from the Bankers Committee, the apex bank also introduced financing initiatives for farmers and small and medium enterprises.