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When President Bola Tinubu appointed him as Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria in 2023, many Nigerians applauded the decision based on his pedigree as a seasoned economist, technocrat and reform-driven administrator whose leadership would reshape the nation’s monetary landscape.
On the job, he has brought his decades of experience in banking, public administration, development finance and a reputation for discipline, data-backed decisions, and ethical governance to bear, leading to the successes recorded in the financial sector.
He has a rich academic and professional background, having graduated from Aston University in the United Kingdom with a Bachelor’s degree in Managerial and Administrative Studies; and a Master’s degree in Public Administration from Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government.
Prior to his emergence as the CBN Governor, he served as the Commissioner for Economic Planning and Budget in Lagos State, where he championed fiscal reforms that became a template for other sub-nationals.
Under his watch, Lagos improved revenue generation, tightened expenditure control, and deepened public-private sector collaboration, achievements which contributed significantly to the state’s transformation into an economic powerhouse.
In the private sector, Dr. Cardoso also left his footprints of success. He served meritoriously as Chairman of Citibank Nigeria and held several senior roles across the banking industry, earning respect for his strategic insight, prudence, and unwavering integrity.
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At the Central Bank of Nigeria, he has succeeded in stabilising the naira, pushing down inflation, and restoring investor confidence.
Under his leadership, the Central Bank has discontinued arbitrary interventions, restructured its operations, and prioritised transparency and accountability. With the unification of the exchange rate regime, the Naira-Dollar exchange rates have stabilised and foreign currency is available for the asking.
His Back-to-Basics monetary policy has been widely applauded for reducing distortions in the Foreign Exchange market and improving the credibility of monetary management.
He has also strengthened collaboration with fiscal authorities, recognising that sustainable growth demands policy harmony between the CBN and the Ministry of Finance.
In the last two and half years, Nigeria’s foreign reserve has been steadily rising and has hit an all-time high of about $41.046 million since 2021.
With a strong foreign reserve, the use of Nigerian banks ATM for financial transactions abroad has since been restored.
The CBN has also cleaned up the Ways and Means regime, which was abused under the previous administration, with N30 trillion debts left behind. The CBN is sanitising the Point of Service (POS) operation with geo-tagging aimed at combating fraud and making the tracing of financial transactions easier.
For the reforms he has carried out at the CBN, The Sun Board of Editors chose him as winner of The Sun Man of the Award 2025.
