Senate approves Prof. Ayogu as CBN board member

Prof. Melvin Ayogu’s appointment to the Central Bank of Nigeria’s (CBN) Board of Directors has been confirmed by the Senate, just 13 days after President Bola Tinubu submitted his name to the lawmakers.

This confirmation follows the President’s request to the Senate on March 12, in compliance with the CBN’s Establishment Act.

According to the request letter read during plenary by Senate President Godswill Akpabio, President Tinubu said: “In compliance with the provisions of Section 10(1) of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) (Establishment) Act, 2007, Iam pleased to present, for confirmation by the Senate, the appointment of Prof. Melvin D. Ayogu as a member of the Board of Directors of the Central Bank of Nigeria. His Curriculum Vitae is attached herewith.

“The Senate is invited to kindly note that this nominee is to make up the number of the Board of Directors as provided by Section 6 of the CBN Act, 2007.”

The Tuesday approval followed the presentation and consideration by the Senate Committee on Banking, Insurance, and Other Financial Institutions, led by Sen. Adetokunbo Abiru (APC, Lagos East).

Sen. Osita Izunaso (APC, Imo West) presented the report, saying: “The Senate do Receive and Consider the Report of the Committee on Banking, Insurance & Other Financial Institutions on the confirmation of the nomination of Prof. Melvin Damian Ayogu for appointment as a member Board of Directors, Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).”

Persecondnews recalls that Tinubu had previously nominated Robert Agbide, Ado Wanga, Murtala Sagaley, Urum Eke, and Olayinka Aliyu to the CBN board in February 13, 2024.

However, on February 29, 2024, the Senate confirmed four people as members of the board of the CBN after Eke rejected the offer, citing “conflict of interest”.

Tinubu replaced Eke with Ruby Onwudiwe on March 13, 2024, but just a day later, reports emerged that he had withdrawn her nomination due to her ties with the Labour Party(LP), an opposition party to the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).

His decision reportedly followed pressure mounted on the president by members of the APC, as Onwudiwe publicly supported Peter Obi, who contested on the LP platform against Tinubu, at the 2023 presidential elections.

Prof. Ayogu is an accomplished economist with a strong background in development economics and economics of Africa.

He holds a Ph.D in Economics from Ohio State University.

He has had a distinguished career, serving as a fellow in the Africa Growth Initiative at Brookings, where his research focused on growth, governance, export structure, economic development, and value recovery of stolen assets.

Prof. Ayogu has also worked as a lecturer in Economics at Emory College of Arts & Sciences, with research areas in Development Economics and Economics of Africa.

Additionally, he has been affiliated with the Center for Public Policy Alternatives and the Graduate School of Business at the University of Cape Town.

Ayogu has authored several publications, including working papers and articles on topics such as corporate governance, economic development, and international financial architecture.