
SaharaReporters
has learned from sources close to President Goodluck Jonathan
that Aigboje I. Aig-Imoukhuede, the controversial head of Access Bank
Plc, has been tipped to succeed current Governor Sanusi Lamido Sanusi at
the helm of Nigeria’s Central Bank.
“If all goes as planned, Aigboje Aig-Imoukhuede will become the next
Governor of the Central Bank,” one of our sources said.
Mr. Aig-Imoukhuede, the Group Managing Director of Access Bank Plc, also
enjoys the support of Nigeria’s Finance Minister, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala,
said one source.
The banker, whose closeness to both Mr. Jonathan and Ms.Okonjo-Iweala is
well known, is regarded within Nigeria’s financial circles as a
controversial figure who has remained unscathed because of his
high-powered political contacts. Mr. Aig-Imoukhuede’s ties to Mr.
Jonathan and Nigeria’s Finance Minister have helped him obscure his
bank’s widespread and obscene involvement in the $6 billion oil subsidy
scam that rocked Nigeria last year.
A top level Nigerian financial analyst with deep knowledge of the oil
sector told SaharaReporters that Mr. Aig-Imoukhuedeand his bank “should
have been on the hot seat over their role in the fuel subsidy fraud.”
Instead, the analysts said, President Jonathan appointed the banker to a
committee that enabled Mr. Aig-Imoukhuede and Access Bank to escape
critical searchlight.
A source told SaharaReporters that current CBN governor, Sanusi Lamido
Sanusi, has expressed a desire not to seek a second term at the end of
his current five-year tenure. Mr. Sanusi’s term as Nigeria’s
current governor of the CBN is due toexpire in April, 2014.
Last year, President Jonathan appointed Mr. Aig Imoukhuede to
chair a committee on fuel subsidies. The appointment helped the
banker to cover up his bank's involvement in the oil subsidy scam.
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