A former Governor of Edo State, Adams Oshohmole, has described the monetary policy of the Central Bank of Nigeria as a “journey that has no destination.”
The former All Progressives Congress National Chairman accused the apex bank governor, Godwin Emefiele, of meddling with fiscal policies during his declaration of his intention to contest for president in Abuja.
This is not the first time Emefiele’s monetary policy is under attack as the Vice President, Yemi Osinbajo, has also taken similar swipe at the apex bank governor.
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He said, “I also want to speak to one policy that I believe is at the heart of the crisis we face, when I talk about our monetary policy. We must return to the era of regulation. Right now, there are people who still want naira to be floated, there are people, including people in the system who are saying the naira should be floated. Today, from where we had N1 to $1, around 1974 and 1995, today you have $1 to N580.
“If we continue this journey that has no destination, only a mad man will embark on a journey and when you ask him where he is going, he will say I don’t know, but I know one day I will get there.
“Where are we going to? we will have to agree that these meagre policies are not working. The greatest threat to poverty today is that you saved N1m ten years ago believing that you will be able to buy a car of your own, you just find that the value of that N1m will give you less than $1,000. We need to stabilize the currency, stabilize prices.”
He accused the apex bank of interfering in fiscal policies, adding that incoherent policies have killed so many businesses as well as chased investors from the Nigerian market.
The former Edo Governor said, “What I seek to do if I become the President of Nigeria is to ensure that both monetary authorities in CBN understand that in formulating their monetary policies, there must be coherence with the fiscal policies by the Ministry of Finance.
“The Ministry of Finance must robustly engage with the Ministry of Industry and of Investment. There have to be coherent decisions and shared objective to ensure that we create an environment in which people can set up business.”
The aspirant said the Nigerian banking system has lost focus and as such needs to be reformed to favour the poor and average Nigerians.
“I appreciate very much the efforts of the CBN governor in creating special windows to deal with the limitations of many who cannot have access to funds commercial banks. I will insist that the banks perform their roles the way it was before the banks were deregulated,” he said.
He added, “The current dilemma is that you cannot go the bank and borrow to do business. I do not see how CBN alone will be able to create all the windows necessary. We must reform the banking system such that the produce of the banks is linked to the produce of the economy. If an economy is not growing, if investment is stagnating, how is the bank making their money?
“We have to remove speculation from the system and have a robust regulation that the banking system work for the economy, lend to the poor as it lends to the rich.”