President Bola Tinubu has nominated Melvin Ayogu to the board of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and has requested Senate confirmation for the appointment.
This announcement was made by the Special Adviser to Tinubu on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, in a statement on Wednesday.
“President Bola Tinubu has written to the Senate, requesting confirmation of Prof. Melvin Ayogu’s appointment to the Central Bank of Nigeria’s (CBN) Board of Directors.”, Onanuga wrote on his X handle.
In addition to Ayogu’s nomination, Tinubu also sought Senate confirmation for Nwakuche Ndidi as Controller-General of the Nigerian Correctional Service. The requests, conveyed in letters to Senate President Godswill Akpabio, were read during Tuesday’s plenary session.
Previous nominations
Previously, in February 2024, Tinubu had nominated Robert Agbide, Ado Wanga, Murtala Sagaley, Urom Eke, and Olayinka Aliyu to the CBN board.
However, on February 29, 2024, the Senate confirmed four of the nominees after Eke declined the offer, citing a “conflict of interest.”
Tinubu subsequently replaced Eke with Ruby Onwudiwe on March 13, 2024. However, reports circulated a day later that the president withdrew her nomination due to her political affiliation with the Labour Party, an opposition party to the All Progressives Congress.
Earlier in March, Nairametrics reported that the CBN called on financial institutions to strengthen their compliance frameworks and align with global banking standards to combat illicit financial flows and maintain the integrity of the financial system.
What you should know
- The apex bank made this call at the Mandatory Compliance and Anti-Money Laundering (AML) Training Workshop held in Lagos on February 28, 2025, in collaboration with Citi.
- The event brought together compliance officers, trade operations specialists, and correspondent banking teams from various financial institutions to discuss global regulatory trends, financial risks, and best practices for ensuring compliance.
- The CBN reaffirmed its commitment to reinforcing regulatory oversight and ensuring that Nigerian banks adopt dynamic, risk-based Anti-Money Laundering (AML) and Counter-Financing of Terrorism (CFT) programs that align with evolving global standards.
Speaking at the event, Shola Phillips, Special Adviser to the CBN Governor on Compliance, stressed that financial institutions must operate with compliance frameworks that reflect international best practices.
She noted that correspondent banking relationships are becoming increasingly dependent on stringent compliance measures, making it imperative for Nigerian banks to improve their risk management structures.
She further highlighted that failing to align with global compliance standards could expose Nigerian banks to increased scrutiny from international financial institutions, potentially affecting their access to global banking networks.
