Nigeria's Central Bank Governor Likely To Loose Job

Indications have emerged that the governor of Central Bank Of Nigeria(CBN), Professor Chukwuma Charles Soludo may not return to his post next month when his tenure will expire, chidi opara reports can now report. The CBN governor is presently on a renewable five-year-tenure that expires in May 2009.

The main obstacle to the renewal of the CBN governor's tenure is the North(Northern Nigeria), whose influential politicians and traditional rulers, we gathered have constituted themselves into a secret lobby group to bring pressure to bear on the President not to renew the tenure of the Professor of Economics.

Checks by chidi opara reports revealed that the grouse of this influential lobby group is what it sees as Soludo's anti-North monetary and other economic inputs into the policies of the immediate past administration of rtd. general Olusegun Obasanjo and the present administration of Mr. Umaru Yar'Adua. These inputs the group believe, rendered the North almost economically comatose. "After Soludo's banking consolidation, how many banks did the North end up with?, just two", an aide of one of the political leaders of the North complained to one of our network members in Kano. The CBN under the leadership of Chukwuma Soludo successfully carried out a banking consolidation exercise which saw the industry players pruned down to twenty-five banks.

Another major reason why the CBN governor's tenure may not be renewed is the proposed re-denomination of the Nation's currency, which contacts close to the CBN topshot informed chidi opara reports that the Anambra state born renowned economist is still passionate about and determined to push through if permitted by the Presidency. The re-denomination programme was suspended on the order of the President. This currency re-denomiation if carried out, is expected to considerably check the thriving business of illegal foreign currency dealers, whose principals are believed to be powerful persons from the North. "They have been given the highest position in Customs, so let them forget the CBN", an influential Northern politician was heard telling another at the Malam Aminu Kano International Airport Kano.

The articulate CBN governor is however not resting, chidi opara reports have confirmed information that Professor Soludo have recently stepped up lobby for the renewal of his tenure through the apex Igbo socio-cultural body, Ohaneze Ndi Igbo, his influential Northern friends like Mr. Aliko Dangote and some influential officials of World Bank and International Monetary Fund(IMF). Soludo had acted as consultant to these bodies prior to his becoming CBN governor.