List of All CBN Governors in Nigeria From 1958 Till Date

Hello guys, let’s check out the names of all the past and present CBN Governors in Nigeria below;

RELATED: List of Inspectors General of Police in Nigeria From 1964 Till Date

The mandate of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) is derived from the 1958 Act of Parliament, as amended in 1991, 1993,1997,1998,1999 and 2007.

The CBN Act of 2007 of the Federal Republic of Nigeria charges the bank with the overall control and administration of the monetary and financial sector policies of the Federal Government.

The objects of the CBN are as follows:

1. ensure monetary and price stability;
2. issue legal tender currency in Nigeria;
3. maintain external reserves to safeguard the international value of the legal tender currency;
4. promote a sound financial system in Nigeria; and
5. act as a Banker and provide economic and financial advice to the Federal Government.

Consequently, the bank is charged with the responsibility of administering the Banks and Other Financial Institutions (BOFI) Act (1991) as amended, with the sole aim of ensuring high standards of banking practice and financial stability through its surveillance activities, as well as the promotion of an efficient payment system.

In addition to its core functions, CBN has, over the years, performed some major developmental functions, focused on all the key sectors of the Nigerian economy (financial, agricultural, and industrial sectors). Overall, these mandates are carried out by the bank through its various departments.

Lists of CBN Governors From 1958 till Today

1. R. P. A. Fetoh 1958-1963
2. Alhaji Mai Borno (1963-1967)
3. Dr Clemet N. Isong (1967-1975)
4. Mallam Adamu Ciroma (1975-1977)
5. Ola Vicent (1977-1982)
6. Alhaji Abdulkadir Ahmed (1982-1993)
7. Dr Paul Agbai Ogwuma (1993-1999)
8. Chief Joseph Oladele Sanusi (1999-2004)
9. Prof Chukwuma Soludo (2004-2009)
10. Sanusi Lamido Sanusi (2009-2014)
11. Mr. Godwin Emefiele (June 3, 2014, – 9 June 2023)
12. Dr. Olayemi Cardoso (15 September till date)

Roy Pentelow Fenton

Roy Pentelow Fenton was the governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria from 1958 till 1963. He was the first governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria. Roy Pentelow Fenton was from Britain. He occupied the position for five years.

Alhaji Mai Borno 

Mallam Aliyu Mai-Bornu served as the governor of the Nigerian Central Bank from July 25, 1963, until June 22, 1967. He was the first Nigerian governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria. The former governor was an indigene of Adamawa State. He studied economics at the University of Bristol, in the United Kingdom. Mallam Aliyu Mai-Bornu started as an administrative secretary in the Nothern Nigerian Public Service before joining the Central Bank in 1959. He rose to occupy the deputy governor position before being appointed governor in 1963.

Mai-Bornu was named Director and General Manager of the Nigerian Tobacco Company (1967–1969) after departing the bank. He was a member of the company’s board of directors until his passing on February 23rd, 1970.

The 1,000-naira note that went into circulation on October 12, 2005, has his portrait.

Clement Nyong Isong

Clement Isong served as the 2nd Nigerian governor of the Nigerian Central Bank from August 15, 1967 to September 22, 1975. He was appointed by General Yakubu Gowon. He was in control of Nigeria’s monetary unit when the country was in the midst of the civil war and, subsequently, in an oil boom.

Isong passed away on May 29, 2000. The 1,000 Naira note that went into circulation on October 12, 2005, has his portrait.

Adamu Ciroma

Adamu Ciroma served as the 3rd Nigerian governor of the Nigerian Central Bank from September 24 1975, till June 28 1977. He ventured into politics soon after his time as the head of Nigeria’s apex bank.

Ciroma was a major supporter of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP). From 1999 until 2003, he held the position of Finance minister in Olusegun Obasanjo’s administration. His wife Maryam Ciroma held the position of chairwoman of the PDP’s National Women in Nigeria.

Ola Vicent

Olatunde Olabode Vincent served as the 4th Nigerian governor of the Nigerian Central Bank from June 28, 1977, till June 28, 1982. He served briefly at the Nigerian Ministry of Finance before moving to the Central Bank of Nigeria in 1963. He was appointed Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria during the regime of General Obasanjo in 1977.

Abdulkadir Ahmed

Abdulkadir Ahmed served as the 5th Nigerian governor of the Nigerian Central Bank from June 28, 1982, to September 30, 1993. He was the longest-serving central bank governor holding the position for eleven years. He was appointed by then-President Shehu Shagari and continued in office till He was removed by Abacha’s military Junta.

Paul Agbai Ogwuma

Paul Agbai Ogwuma served as the 6th Nigerian governor of the Nigerian Central Bank from October 1, 1993 to May 29, 1999. He is a former managing director of the Union Bank of Nigeria. His tenure as the Central Bank of Nigeria Governor was marred by controversies because of the looting and mismanagement of funds by Abacha’s military government. He is the brain behind the Nigeria Automated Clearing System (NACS).

Joseph Oladele Sanusi

Chief Joseph Oladele Sanusi served as the 7th Nigerian governor of the Nigerian Central Bank from May 29, 1999 to May 29, 2004. Sanusi was appointed by former President Olusegun Obasanjo to manage the affairs of the Central Bank of Nigeria. He was known as a very conservative banker. He started the process of foreign exchange control and ‘defending the naira’. Sanusi voluntarily tendered his resignation letters in May 2004.

Charles Chukwuma Soludo

Professor Charles Chukwuma Soludo served as the 8th Nigerian governor of the Nigerian Central Bank from May 29, 2004, to May 29, 2009. Charles Soludo was the erstwhile Chief Economic Adviser and Chief Executive of the National Planning Commission before being appointed Central Bank Governor by former President Olusegun Obasanjo.

Sanusi Lamido Sanusi

Sanusi Lamido Sanusi served as the 9th Nigerian governor of the Central Bank from June 3 2009 to February 20, 2014. He was appointed Central Bank of Nigeria governor by former President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua. Sanusi is known for introducing the cashless policy, which is presently at the heart of Nigeria’s budding digital economy.

He was the emir (sarki) of the former city-state of Kano and is a descendant of the Dabo lineage. The grandchild of Muhammadu Sanusi I, he was born into the royal house in Kano in 1961. He ascended to the throne on June 8, 2014, taking over from his great-uncle Ado Bayero. From that point until his ouster by the state government on March 9, 2020, he spent most of his reign calling for cultural change in Northern Nigeria.

Sarah Alade

Sarah Alade served as the acting Nigerian governor of the Nigerian Central Bank from February 20, 2014, to June 3, 2014. She was appointed by former President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan. Sarah Alade was, before this time, the deputy governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria. She is the first woman to head the Central Bank of Nigeria.

Godwin Emefiele

Godwin Ifeanyi Emefiele CFR was born on the 4th of August 1961. He is a Nigerian politician, economist, and banker who served as governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria from 4 June 2014 until his suspension by President Bola Tinubu, on 9 June 2023.

Emefiele served as governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria from 4 June 2014 until 9 June 2023. During his first tenure, he oversaw an interventionist currency strategy at the request of the presidency, pushing billions of dollars into the foreign exchange market to prop up the Nigerian Naira. He also instituted a multiple currency rate regime in an attempt to disguise Naira pressures and avert a succession of devaluations.

Emefiele was re-elected to a second five-year term by Nigeria’s Senate in 2019. This was the first time anyone had been elected to a second term in Nigeria since the country’s return to democracy in 1999.

Dr. Olayemi Cardoso

Dr. Olayemi Michael Cardoso, recently nominated by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, formally commenced duty as Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) on Friday, September 22, 2023, in an acting role, pending Senate confirmation. This follows Mr. Godwin Emefiele’s resignation as Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).

Dr. Cardoso and his colleagues took the required oaths of office on Friday, September 2023, in the Bank’s Head Office in Abuja, and have since settled down to the task of administering the Federal Government’s monetary and financial sector policies.

Cardoso brings almost three decades of managerial expertise to the table as an Economic and Development Policy Advisor, Financial Sector Leader, former Chairman of Citi Nigeria, and Commissioner for Economic Planning and Budget in Lagos.

He graduated from Aston University in Birmingham, England, where he studied managerial and administrative studies. He also has a Master of Public Administration from Harvard Kennedy School in the United States of America.