President Muhammadu Buhari has tapped Mr. Edward Lametek Adamu, a Christian from Gombe State, as the new deputy governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to replace Mr. Suleiman Barau who retired last month.
Adamu, who was once the Director in charge of the Strategy Management Department of the CBN, is currently the Director of Human Resources with the Bank, a position he has held since 2016.
THISDAY gathered that the deputy governor nominee has more than 25 years experience working with the central bank, which has seen him serving in almost every aspect of its operations.
However, his nomination would be subject to the approval by the Senate.
Adamu, who is 57 years, hails from Kaltungo Local Government Area in Gombe State.
He holds a Quantity Surveying degree from the Ahmadu Bello University (ABU), Zaria, and is a Fellow of the Nigerian Institute of Quantity Surveyors.
He also holds postgraduate professional certifications in corporate strategy development and execution, performance management, programme & project management and knowledge management.
Adamu is a fellow of the Institute of Credit Administration of Nigeria and has acquired skill-sets in strategic leadership, central banking, finance, human resources, organisational transformation, risk management, budgeting and cost management, construction management, records management, communications and relationship management, coaching and mentoring and procurement through a variety of Wharton School USA, INSEAD France, Chicago Booth & IMD Switzerland courses and practical experience.
He is also a frequent presenter at professional conferences, seminars and symposia, especially in the areas of leadership, human capital management, project management, construction, strategy and risk management.
Adamu is in addition an active member of other professional bodies such as the the Project Management Institute, USA; International Knowledge Management Institute, USA; International Society for Performance Improvement, USA; and the Association of Project Managers, UK.
In 2012, he was appointed Director of the Strategy Management Department of the CBN in recognition of his depth of operational knowledge of the Bank’s mandate and core responsibilities as well as the breadth of CBN’s strategy implementation experience.
In that role, he was said to have demonstrated an ability to quickly identify and proffer realistic and workable solutions to complex and competing demands of the various sections of the Bank.
In addition, the deputy governor nominee was responsible for working with the CBN board in ensuring that the Bank had a clearly articulated strategy that would ensure the delivery of its mandate, organisational alignment and focus on strategy – from development to execution – by integrating strategy-focused concepts, principles, and best practices into the fabric, cadence, and processes of the organisation.
To effectively undertake the responsibility, he worked with Messrs Palladium Consultants in developing the first Strategy Execution Framework in the Bank in 2012.
Also, he was responsible for the organisational transformation programme of the Bank.
As the Director of Strategy, he was also a member of the Monetary Policy Implementation Committee and the Financial Services Regulatory Coordination Committee, as well as an observer at the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meetings.
In 2016, Adamu was appointed Director, Human Resources Department of the Bank to give effect to the human resources transformation programme initiated during his role as Director, Strategy Management.
Until his nomination as deputy governor, he was tasked with developing the human capital assets of the central bank to be more innovative in dealing with current challenges, and becoming quickly adaptive to future changing needs.
Still No Confirmation Process
Despite his nomination as deputy governor-designate, Adamu would most likely face the same fate as other nominees of the president, as hopes that the Senate may soon consider the nominations of four members of the CBN’s MPC were dashed yesterday, when the legislative body doubled down on its position not to consider any nominations from the president not specified in the Constitution.
Senate President Bukola Saraki, speaking at plenary session, said the Senate remains bound by its resolution taken in March 2017.
The MPC was unable to hold its first meeting of this year last Monday, following its inability to form a quorum with eight positions on the 12-member committee vacant.
The meeting is crucial and enables the CBN to carry out one of its primary roles of setting interest rates and formulating monetary policies to ensure price stability and engender growth.
Owing to the inability of the MPC to hold its meeting, the CBN governor Godwin Emefiele, announced on Monday that the monetary policy rate, among other key ratios, decided by the committee at its November meeting, will be retained.
The confirmation process for Buhari’s nominations of Prof. Adeola Festus Adenikinju, Dr. Aliyu Rafindadi Sanusi, Dr. Robert Chikwendu Asogwa and Dr. Asheikh A. Maidugu as members of the MPC has been stalled by the executive-senate impasse over the confirmation of the acting chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Mr. Ibrahim Magu.
Other nominations into top positions at the central bank that were also affected by the Senate’s resolution included the deputy governor-designate of the CBN, Ms. Aisha Ahmad, and five non-executive directors for the Bank.
Magu has been retained in an acting capacity despite his rejection twice by the Senate, which declined to confirm him as the substantive head of the anti-graft agency.
The impasse was made worse by Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo’s comment that the position of the EFCC chairman does not require the confirmation of the Senate, as it was not specified in the constitution, compelling the Senate to state that it will seek legal interpretation of his remark.
Given its stance, the Senate resolved to suspend the confirmation process for all nominees of the president, arguing that the executive cannot choose what laws to obey and what laws not to obey.
Saraki’s statement wednesday confirmed recent reports by THISDAY that the upper legislative chamber was not willing to budge on its resolution on the matter.
The Senate President did not specifically refer to the MPC, but his comment was made in reaction to a point of order raised by Senator Mao Ohuabunwa regarding nominations into the board of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC).
Ohuabunwa had observed that while the board of the commission had been inaugurated and was functional, about three states out of the nine oil-producing states were not represented on the board.
Their nominations were affected by the Senate’s resolution.
The senator, however, appealed that the outstanding NDDC nominees be exempted from the resolution, as the process for their confirmation was already ongoing before the resolution was passed to suspend the confirmation process.
“I am bringing this before you to consider and allow the committee to complete the screening, as these two or three states are left unattended to. Things are moving on, the commission is working and that is why I have come to you this morning to exempt NNDC from that resolution,” Ohuabunwa said.
Saraki, however, ruled that the appeal could only be considered if the process had already begun before the resolution was taken.
“I am happy that you made reference to the fact that we all here at the Senate passed a resolution on this matter. The issue you just raised, we will look at it to see if the exercise started before the resolution.
“I know this resolution we took it in March, I remember at the end of March last year. So the secretariat should check the records.
“If it (confirmation process) had started before (the resolution), we will look into it, but if it had started after, except that resolution is rescinded we are all bound by that resolution,” Saraki said.
Source : Thisday
