JUST-IN: South-East Nominee Rejects CBN Board Appointment As Senate Confirms 4

The South-East nominee for membership of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Board of Directors, Urum Kalu Eke, has rejected his appointment.

Eke declined his nomination by shunning the Senate Committee’s scheduled screening exercise, which was attended by other four nominees.

This was disclosed at Senate plenary on Thursday by the chairman of the Senate Committee on Banking, Insurance and other Financial Institutions, Senator Adetokunbo Abiru (APC, Lagos East), while presenting his Committee’s report on the screening of the CBN Board of Director-nominees.

Following the presentation and adoption of the report, the Senate, however, confirmed four other nominees as members of Board of Directors of the CBN.

Senator Abiru had informed his colleagues that Mr Urum Kalu Eke, who hails from Abia State, didn’t attend the screening session.

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He specifically informed the Senate that four other nominees namely, Mr Robert Agbede, Mr Ado Yakubu Wanka, Professor Murtala Sabo Sagagi and Mrs Muslimat Olanike Aliyu, appeared before the Senate Committee for screening and convinced the legislative panel of their suitability for the appointments.

He, thereafter, urged the Senate to confirm the appointments of the four nominees who attended the screening session except Eke.

But, a member of the Senate Committee, Senator Orji Uzor Kalu (APC, Abia North), quickly rose to inform the Senate at plenary that Eke, being one of his constituents, called him that he was declining the CBN Board appointment to avoid conflict of interest.

According to Senator Kalu, Eke is a consultant to the World Bank and other international financial institutions, which would make him not have the required time to function well as one of the Directors of CBN.

“Mr President, I’m a member of the committee that carried out screening on nominees forwarded to the Senate for appointment as members of Board of Directors of CBN by President Bola Tinubu.

“During the screening exercise, Urum Kalu Eke from Abia North called me for not attending the session.

“He said as a consultant to the World Bank and other international financial institutions, he wouldn’t take the appointment to avoid conflict of interest,” the lawmakers told his colleagues.

Earlier in his presentation of report for confirmation of appointments of other CBN Board nominees, Senator Abiru said all of them demonstrated comprehensive grasp of economic knowledge and policies and that there was no petition against anyone of them.

The Senate accordingly confirmed their appointments when the motion was put to voice vote by the Deputy President of the Senate, Senator Jibrin Barau, who presided over the session.