CBN, Finance Tussle: Reps declare Adeosun’s request a non-issue

Some members of the House of Representatives were, yesterday, unanimous in their verdict over a recent call by the Minister of Finance, Mrs. Kemi Adeosun, on the National Assembly to help whittle down the powers of the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN.They came to a decision, without a dissent voice, that the minister would do well to concentrate more on fiscal policies as she is yet to exercise 40 per cent of her ministry’s powers.The law makers argued that curtailing the independence of the apex bank would spell doom for Nigeria and erode the tenets upon which the bank was grounded.Kingsley Chinda, Chairman, House Committee on Public Accounts, on his part, noted that whatever problem was bedeviling Nigeria today had no link with the CBN, stressing that sustaining the economic policies was of paramount importance.“The problem with our economy does not flow from the powers of the CBN governor. She should be more interested in coming up with workable and sustainable policies than dispute over powers.“She cannot even effectively exercise 40 per cent of the powers of her office. The powers of the CBN governor are not the problem with our economy. She should concentrate on and limit herself to fiscal policies and allow the CBN deal with monetary policies”, he said.Also reacting, Chairman House Committee on Public Petitions, Uzoma Nkem-Abonta, warned against politicising the CBN.He argued that any attempt to subsume the CBN into the Finance Ministry would spell doom for Nigeria as its independence in other civilised climes was never negotiable.“The CBN was created by an Act of Parliament which makes it a statutory creation with assigned roles and functions regulating and managing fiscal policies.“CBN should outlive governments and parties. It must not be treated like core civil service or ministries.“CBN operations should be devoid of political manipulations and any attempt to put CBN under the management of Finance Ministry will spell doom for our economy,” he expounded.Minority Leader of the House, Leo Ogor, in his submission, said such move should be jettisoned as it was tantamount to eroding the independence of the CBN.Quoting him, “Rather than whittling down the powers of the CBN, which is not in conformity with best international practices as present day realities have demonstrated worldwide, our Finance Minister should initiate relevant fiscal policies aimed at stimulating the economy from recession.“If the minister succeeds with her plan, the reaction time of the CBN to monetary policies will be greatly impaired by bureaucracy as it is expected to act through a supervisory agency and such move will result in undue political interference in monetary policies, which will not augur well for the economy.”