PRESIDENT Muhammadu Buhari has nominated Godwin Emefiele for another five-year tenure as the governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).

The letter for the tenure renewal was signed by Buhari on Wednesday, the Cable reports. The letter has already been forwarded to the Senate for its confirmation.

Emefiele was appointed in March 2014 by the former President Goodluck Jonathan. He had replaced Lamido Sanusi Lamido after the latter suspension. 

According to CBN Act, the Senate will have to confirm Buhari’s nomination.

If the Senate confirms the nomination, Emefiele will be the first CBN governor to work for two tenures since the country returned to democracy in 1999. Since 1999, no CBN governor had been nominated for a second term.

Emefiele’s current tenure will end by June. But if his nomination is  approved by the Senate, his new tenure will run till 2024.

Under his watch, Nigeria slipped into its worse recession in more than a decade. The country was steered out of the recession later in 2018.

The 57-year-old banker, until his appointment in 2014, was the group managing director of the Zenith Bank Plc.