Ahead of its first meeting since the appointment of its current governor, Olayemi Cardoso, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) is reorganising the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) and in the process of appointing new independent members.
As part of the process, the CBN has also discontinued payments to current members of the committee.
According to a Bloomberg report, insiders familiar with the issue said the stoppage of the payments which was since August 2023, was without prior notice.
The report quoted anonymous sources to have revealed that the five external members of the MPC, a crucial part of the 12-seat committee, hade not received their dues since August.
It did four out of these five members disclosed this lack of communication and payment from the CBN, while the fifth member has not provided any comment on the matter.
It was noted that the last communication these members received from the CBN was in September.
A representative of the CBN, according to Bloomberg, acknowledged the ongoing process of appointing new independent members to the MPC but refrained from commenting on the specifics of the payment halt.
This strategy aligns with President Bola Tinubu’s plan to restructure the apex bank.
The MPC is an essential organ of the CBN, composed of the governor, four deputy governors, two directors from the bank, and five external members. These external members, important for their independent perspectives, were appointed during the tenure of former President Muhammadu Buhari and ex-governor, Godwin Emefiele.
