Godwin Emefiele Bags National Honour As He Prepares To Leave Office after 9 year

The Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Godwin Emefiele,  has been awarded the prestigious Commander of the Order of the Federal Republic (CFR) national honour. The recognition comes as Emefiele prepares to conclude his nine-year tenure as the head of Nigeria’s apex bank.

President Muhammadu Buhari, in a ceremony held at the Presidential Villa in Abuja, conferred the honour on Emefiele alongside 340 other notable Nigerians.

Emefiele assumed office in 2014 and a recent report showed that under his tenure, he was able to stabilised the banking sector with less failed banks.

However, the CBN governor has come under serious criticism for some of his policies and decisions. One of which is the naira redesign which caused severe hardship and also several exchange rate policy implemented without improvement in Naira’s value.

Under his administration, Godwin Emefiele introduced some forex policies which include:

1. Restriction on Importers: On June 23, 2015, the CBN implemented a restriction that prevented importers of 41 items (later increased to 44 items) from accessing foreign exchange (FX).
2. Limit on Naira-Denominated Cards Abroad: In 2015, the CBN introduced an FX policy that limited the usage of naira-denominated cards abroad to $300.0 per person per day. Recently, some banks reduced this limit to $20 or suspended using these cards for international spending.
3. Elimination of Commission on Retail FX Transactions: In 2019, the CBN eliminated commission charges on retail FX transactions related to invisible services like business travel allowance, personal travel allowance, medical expenses, and school fees.
4. Selling Rate and Intervention Frequency: The CBN decreased the selling rate of FX to Bureaux de Change (BDC) operators and increased the frequency of interventions in other windows to enhance access and availability of FX for end-users.
5. Discontinuation of FX Sale to BDC Operators: In July 2021, the CBN discontinued the sale of foreign currencies to BDC operators in Nigeria. Additionally, they suspended the applications for and issuance of new licenses for BDC operations. Including many others.