What Qualifies Aisha Ahmad As CBN Deputy Governor

As soon as news broke of President Muhammadu Buhari’s nomination of Aisha Ahmad as the new Deputy-Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), a mild controversy ensued.

The debate, particularly on Social Media, was on whether or not Ahmad was really qualified to replace Sarah Alade, who in March 2017 retired from the CBN as the Deputy Governor in charge of economic policy.

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Some argued that Ahmad was too young to fill the position, while others claimed that her promotion to the rank of Executive Director at Diamond Bank Plc was done few hours to her CBN nomination.

A particular broadcast that made the rounds, read: “We have a new Deputy CBN Governor by name Aishah Ahmad. An erstwhile DGM (Deputy General Manager). she was appointed an ED (Executive Director) in Diamond Bank Wednesday evening and before the staff got home same Wednesday, they learnt of her appointment as CBN Deputy Governor. CBN typically accepts only Executive Directors for that position.”

This prompted The Whistler to do a quick fact check with a view of separating facts from fictions surrounding Ahmad’s nomination by President Buhari.

Firstly, It is untrue that Ahmad was hurriedly promoted to rank of Executive Director (ED) at Diamond Bank few hours to her nomination, even though being ED is not a legal prerequisite of being Deputy CBN Governor.

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A check on her CV indicates that the Chairman of the Women in Management, Business and Public Service (WIMBIZ) was promoted to ED at Diamond Bank in May 2017.

It was also gathered that President Buhari had on February 20, 2017, received a memo nominating Ahmad as Alade’s replacement, but that the president couldn’t attend to it due to his protracted medical condition.

Secondly, Ahmad’s over 20 years of certified experience with global financial institutions such as the Bank of New York Mellon, Stanbic IBTC Bank, amongst others, fulfills the Section 8 (1) of the CBN Act 2007 requirement that governors and deputy-governors of the Bank “shall be persons of recognised financial experience”.

Lastly, with a Bachelor’s Degree in Accounting from the University of Abuja, an MBA with a specialisation in Finance from the University of Lagos and an MSC in Finance and Management from Cranfield School of Management, United Kingdom, Ahmad’s competence to do the job shouldn’t be a thing of debate in the first instance.

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