Abba Kyari, Chief of Staff to President Muhammadu Buhari, has launched an elaborate scheme to ensure that his candidate emerges the new Deputy Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to represent the North-West geo-political zone.
President Buhari had approved the appointment of a Director from the North West, but Mr. Abba Kyari, President Buhari's Chief Of Staff, stopped the process and nominated someone from Katsina State.
Sources told SaharaReporters that the development generated bad blood in CBN and within government circles.
SaharaReporters learned that Kyari wants Mr. Usman Hassan Katsina, former Director, Aso Savings, to be made Deputy Governor instead of Edward Lametek Adamu, an accomplished career banker, whom the President had initially approved from within the CBN ranks.
The Chief of Staff on Wednesday night refused to release the Presidential approval to the media as had been expected. Instead, said sources, he facilitated another visit by Mr. Katsina to Aso Rock in an attempt to ensure that the President's preferred candidate is dropped.
CBN sources said staff are watching the development and are wondering if dedication and competence, as so far shown by Mr. Adamu, no longer count.
The sources, however, said that any attempt to dump the President's candidate will attract stiff opposition from Bank staff, as many of them are aware that Mr. Katsina is a weekly guest of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) for involvement in the fraud that rocked the organisation.