By Segun Oderinde
The pride, prestige and privilege that come with co-signing the Naira can only be understood by those who have been there and their tribesmen. When Olu Fabanwo, until recently, the Director of Currency Operations at the Central Bank of Nigeria, had that honour, it was a status symbol of a sort for the Yoruba race. Just the same way Deltans celebrate that Godwin Emefiele is the Governor of the CBN.
But with Fabanwo’s retirement, that honour is about to go elsewhere. That shouldn’t be a problem except for the fact that perhaps for the first time in the history of the Naira, two people from the same part of the country – in fact, the same state – would be co-signing it. Though not a position that is statutorily for any tribe, privileged sources posit that the honour should be shared by other tribes; not have the Governor and the Director of Currency Operations – the two signatories – hail from the same state.
These sources have reliably informed The Capital that the CBN Governor is manipulating the management and board of the apex bank in a brazen motive to have a fellow Deltan join him in that prestigious national duty by confirming Priscilla Eleje as the substantive Director of Currency Operations. She currently acts in that position having been Fabanwo’s deputy. If her appointment is confirmed, she would automatically be the second signatory on the Naira.
Now, here is why there is a simmering hostility in the CBN. While her qualification is not in doubt, Eleje, like Emefiele, is a native of Agbor, Delta State. The CBN Governor says it is serendipity but sources maintain that he is congenitally clannish and has a predisposition to work with only people who speak his language or can cover his tracks. Had there not been precedence, perhaps there would be no agitation.
What Emefiele is doing with Eleje is similar to the same way he is scheming to outfox juggernauts and political stakeholders who are plotting and positioning to succeed him in the CBN or install their own lackeys, as the case may be, while he is reportedly grooming one of his trusted protégés, Ahmed Kuru, MD/CEO of the Assets Management Corporation of Nigeria, AMCON, to take over from him.
The former Group Managing Director at Zenith Bank reportedly runs a close-knit yet powerful cabal of his own in the CBN and has been able to avoid any form of scrutiny due to his well-orchestrated outlook of a man that isn’t interested in anything but getting his job done and minding his business. Now, the world knows better what businesses he has been minding. But will the government allow him to have his way on this?
