The Naira Revaluation Saga: Dateline

- August 14: CBN Governor, Charles Soludo unveils naira revaluation plan.

- August 15: Yar’Adua summons Soludo to FEC meeting to define his plans. FEC commissions Economic Management Team (EMT) to vet the strategy; Finance Minister, Dr. Shamsudeen Usman, reassures that autonomy of the CBN is not in question, citing EMT contributions as merely “advisory”.

- August 22: EMT suggests cursory amendments, including a review of implementation date (August 1, 2008) and voicing concerns over decision to gradual phase old currency, arguing that cost of implementation would be prohibitive.

- August 24: Attorney-General of the Federation, Mr. Michael Aondoakaa, announces that CBN Governor is in breach of the CBN Act 2007 by not obtaining written approval from the President before making the policy public, orders the suspension of further actions on the plan.

- August 27: Soludo capitulates to FEC pressure, acquiescing to Presidential transcendence on monetary decisions as constituted in Section 19 of the CBN Act 2007.

Like the proverbial flash in the pan, the naira redenomination spectacular was over in a fortnight. Personally, I feel sad for Soludo. The idea was ingenious, impressive. The President wasn’t impressed, though, and as I got to learn, if Soludo hadn’t been so politically inept, he might have seen it coming. The first sign was when his junior was appointed Federal Minister of Finance instead of him. Then he and EFCC boss Ribadu were unceremoniously dropped from the EMT, the think-tank I later discovered he’d himself conceived. The last straw was when subordinate officials were drawn from the CBN to enflesh the team. Clearly the writing blazed from the wall that Soludo had fallen out of favour, and as the vultures circled, it would’ve been more prudent to tread carefully. And trust me, there were vultures. A particularly hostile horde is an influential conclave of powerbrokers from the President’s region of extraction, the Northern Union (NU). With more northerners now clinching top positions in the present administration, the NU were more than a little miffed that a southerner still held fort at the apex bank and were gagging for Soludo to slip. Then with atrocious sense of timing, Soludo delivered on a silver platter August 14 and his political enemies rubbed their hands with glee. What’s worse, by supposedly misinterpreting the CBN Act 2007 as the source of autonomy in implementation of the revaluation policy, Soludo had implicitly challenged presidential authority and shot himself in the leg. No surprise then that when the gavel was whipped down calling him to order, it was heavy. The Attorney-General of the Federation, doubtlessly livid at not being consulted, had him for breakfast. Now, even after eating humble pie on August 28^th, the certitude of Soludo’s tenure hangs over his head like a gleaming sword of Damocles. Whom the President appoints, he can disappoint.

But controversy surrounds the linchpin of this debate, namely Section19 of the CBN Act 2007. As the Nigerian Guardian bureau chief, Madu Onuorah ponders, “…if you are searching at the CBN website for the CBN Act, in order to read for yourself the contending Section 19 Sub-sections (1) and (2), you won't find it. You can get highlights of Sections 1 to 12. But Sections 13 to 19 are not available. And when inquiries were made from some top Nigerians on how to get a copy of the CBN Act, the question posed to a journalist was instructive: "is it the fake or the authentic copy?" This means there are two versions of the CBN Act in circulation. Then, who has the authentic copy? Who worked with the fake copy? Which one did Prof. Soludo or Mr. Aondoakaa work with?”

Well, there it is. Whereas elsewhere in the free world, the autonomy of central banks in executing monetary policy is fundamental, in Nigeria, down is up, like the realms of Davy Jones’ Locker in the Pirates of the Caribbean. I still support Soludo’s shimmering vision of a reinvigorated naira, and with a bit more patience and lobby-savvy, perhaps in the future he could susurrate the sound advice into Yar’Adua’s ears and softly sidle his way into his good graces instead of grandstanding in panic to sound off his relevance. He’ll be hard pressed to find the Pres. in an accommodative mood any time soon, though. Lord knows these days the man’s so busy setting up supervisory bodies over every strategically positioned sector of the economy faster than you can build shacks in a Maroko ghetto, often chairing the commissions himself. Now, he’s ruminating over the advantages of exercising emergency powers over the energy sector. Hm…is Yar’Adua a power-hungry megalomaniac, or just a dedicated control freak…? Oh the heck with it. Deciphering that is early days yet. I’ll catch the US Open quarters instead.