Bills seeking to amend the CBN ACT and limit the powers of the CBN Governor has scaled second Reading at the Nigerian Senate .
The Proposed Amendment seeks to separate the head of Management of the Apex Bank from the Governing board and strip the CBN Governor of the powers of Chairman of the Board of the Apex Bank .
The Bills sponsored by the Senate’s minority whip Darlington Nwokocha and Kogi West Senator, Karimi Sunday scaled second reading after a long debate and deliberations by senators.
A bills to amend the CBN act seems to have gotten the interest of almost all senators.
Lawmakers immediately took a dive into into critical bills aimed at amending the CBN Act and reshaping the Banking System to meet both national and international standards.
In the midst of the debate, the bill sponsors also made a strong case to get more support from their colleagues as they pushed for the endorsement of a new legal framework that will enhance the functionality of the apex bank.
These bills propose significant changes to the CBN act, They seek to insulate the CBN Governor and Deputies from partisan politics and remove the Governor from the governing board of the APEX BANK.
They believe this will allow the CBN Governor to concentrate on fiscal and monetary policies.
Not everyone in the chamber is on the same page with the sponsors of the bills, they have found holes in the bills and warn the Senate against tampering with the independence of the CBN.
These bills propose an expanded Board, including the Auditor General of the Federation, the Chairman of the Inland Revenue Service, and the Chartered Institute of Bankers, for better synergy in fiscal and monetary policies, it also suggests appointing a different person with the requisite knowledge and qualifications in monetary and financial policies as the Board’s chairman.
The kind of interest the bills generated, is an indication of how the Lawmakers understand the implications of the actions and inactions of the CBN as a
