… Govt investigates CBN, pursues reforms
Folashodun Adebisi Shonubi, 62, has been appointed acting governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) following the suspension of erstwhile helmsman, Godwin Emefiele, who served in the position for nine years and five days, having ascended office on June 4, 2014.
President Bola Ahmed Tinubu suspended Emefiele from the headship of the CBN, Friday, with immediate effect.
Emefiele’s suspension was conveyed in a statement by Willie Bassey, Director of Information, Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation.
The statement read in part: “President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has suspended the Central Bank Governor, Mr Godwin Emefiele, CFR, from office with immediate effect.
“This is a sequel to the ongoing investigation of his office and the planned reforms in the financial sector of the economy.
“Mr Emefiele has been directed to immediately hand over the affairs of his office to the Deputy Governor (Operations Directorate) [Folashodun Adebisi Shonubi], who will act as the Central Bank Governor pending the conclusion of the investigation and the reforms.”
Mr. Folashodun Adebisi Shonubi, erstwhile CBN deputy governor (operations) was born on the 7th of March, 1962. He attended the University of Lagos from 1978 to 1983 and obtained a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering.
He further obtained a Master of Science in Mechanical Engineering in 1985 with bias in Production Engineering from the same University. From 1988-1989 he shifted ground to Finance and obtained a Masters’ in Business Administration specialising in Finance.
He worked as a Consultant Engineer at Mek-ind Associates from 1984 to 1989. From 1989 to 1990, he was a Marketing Executive at Inlaks Computers Limited.
He moved to Citibank Nigeria Limited as Head, Treasury Operations from 1990 to 1993 from where he joined Agusto & Co. Ltd as a Supervising Consultant from 1993 to 1996.
He then moved to MBC International Limited as Deputy General Manager, Banking Operations & Information Technology from 1999. In 1999, he joined First City Monument Bank (FCMB) Limited as Vice-President, Operations & Information Technology and was there till 2002.
In 2003, he moved from FCMB to Ecobank Nigeria Plc as an Executive Director, Operations & Information Technology and in 2007 he became the Director, Information Technology and Corporate Services, Renaissance Securities Nigeria Limited.
He was recruited by Union Bank of Nigeria Limited as an Executive Director, Operations, Technology and Services, September 2009 to April 2012.
In May 2012 he became the Managing Director/CEO, Nigeria Inter-Bank Settlement System Plc, a position he held until October 2018.
From December 2019 until Friday, Mr. Shonubi was the Deputy Governor, Operations of the CBN, representing the Governor of the bank on the board of the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS). He is married with children.
Details of the investigations been carried out at the CBN were not immediately spelt out.
It would however be recalled that former President Muhammadu Buhari’s government had introduced new bank notes late last year, in a naira swap exercise.
The purpose of the exercise, it was said, was to tackle vote-buying at the then up-coming election as well as to deal with insecurity and inflation.
Soon after and for several weeks running, the country was hit with a severe cash crunch which cramped the economy, caused much discomfort to Nigerians and was widely criticised.
Tinubu, then presidential candidate of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), had asked the CBN to allow both old and new notes circulate as legal tender.
Tinubu’s campaign team said then, that the move was targeted at their principal (Tinubu).
Tinubu however said, he was “only concerned about its disruptive implementation and the hardship it has brought on the generality of our people who currently can’t access their hard-earned money to meet obligations and the attendant consequences on the informal sector, where the majorities operate”.
