BEVERLY HILLS, January 16, (THEWILL) – President Muhammadu Buhari has nominated Dr. Kingsley Obiora, an Economist, who is an Alternate Executive Director at the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Washington DC headquarters, as Deputy Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria.
The president in a letter to the Senate President, Ahmed Lawan asked lawmakers to confirm his appointment.
“In a letter to President of the Senate, Ahmad Ibrahim Lawan, President Buhari said the nomination was in accordance with the provision of Section 8(1) (2) of the Central Bank of Nigeria (Establishment) Act 2007.
“Dr Obiora, upon confirmation by the Senate, replaces Dr Joseph Nnanna, who retires on February 2, 2020,” a statement by Femi Adesina, Buhari’s spokesman said Thursday.
Obiora, who joined the IMF in 2007, is a member of the 24-Seat Executive Board of the IMF, collectively responsible for conducting the Funds daily operations and also represents the interests of 23 African countries as well as Nigeria on the board.
THEWILL recalls that the monetary and international economics specialist led the team that created the macroeconomic framework for Economic Reform and Growth Plan (ERGP) of the present administration and had previously served as a Technical Adviser to the National Economic Management Team as well as Special Assistant to then President Jonathan’s Chief Economic Adviser.
Dr. Obiora had also served as Special Adviser on Economic Matters to the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) before he returned to the IMF to assume the position of Executive Director.
Before then, he had worked in various countries in Europe, Africa, and Asia, doing extensive work on exchange rate assessment, debt sustainability analyses, decoupling and spillovers, real sector analyses, as well as several reviews of financial sector assessments.
“Dr. Obiora’s understanding of international and domestic economics is deep and his simplistic approach to solving and explaining complex problems is genius,” an analyst, who had worked with the economist told THEWILL on news of his appointment.
He earned his Doctorate in Economics (AERC Scholars Programme Specializations: Monetary and International Economics) from the University of Ibadan in 2007 having graduated top of his class at the University of Benin, where he earned his first degree in Economics and Statistics. Obiora earned a Masters Degree with a Distinction and emerged best graduating student in Economics also at the University of Ibadan.
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