The House of Representatives yesterday passed a Bill after second reading to stop the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) from participating in future elections in the country.
The sponsor of the Bill, Sada Soli, at plenary, said the bill would add more conditions to the disqualification and appointment of the governor, deputy governors and directors of the CBN.
He explained that the bill sought to amend the CBN Act 2007, adding that the amendment was without prejudice to anybody but because the Act was tested and was found weak.
The Act needed to be amended to strengthen the apex Bank and restore its credibility from the shock it had suffered in the cause of interpreting the law.
Soli said: “Why I am doing this is because there was a time the CBN Governor (Godwin Emefiele) went to court seeking an interpretation of whether he can participate in partisan politics.
“We need to address that. Today, the credibility of CBN in the custody of sensitive election material is being questioned. It is not against any individual but to save the integrity of CBN.”
“This amendment is no prejudice to anybody because the act was tested and it was found to be weak.
“Therefore, we need to strengthen the CBN as the lender of last resort of the Federal Republic of Nigeria to restore its credibility from the shock it suffered in the course of interpreting the law.
“These changes will enable any person who is interested in partisan politics to cease as the governor of the Central Bank and this will give more honour to the position of the CBN Governor, and deputy governor.”
He added that the Act needed to be amended to strengthen the apex Bank and restore its credibility from the shock it had suffered in the cause of interpreting the law.
