ABUJA, Sept 15 (Reuters) - President Bola Tinubu has nominated the former head of Citibank in Nigeria, Olayemi Cardoso, to serve as the country's new central bank governor, days before its next interest rate meeting, a presidential spokesperson said on Friday. The central bank did not respond to a request for comment on whether Emefiele and his deputy governors had resigned. The central bank raised rates by a smaller-than-expected 25 basis points in July, contrary to analysts' expectations, under acting Governor Folashondun Shonubi, one of Emefiele's deputies. The central bank pursued unorthodox policies under Emefiele who kept the currency artificially strong, a policy backed by former President Muhammadu Buhari, which supported government borrowings on the international markets. He was a former commissioner for economic planning and budget in Lagos state when Tinubu was governor between 1999-2007.

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Persons: Bola Tinubu, Olayemi Cardoso, Godwin Emefiele, Tinubu, Cardoso, Ajuri Ngelale, Ngelale, Folashondun Shonubi, Emefiele, Muhammadu Buhari, Camillus Eboh, Chijioke Ohuocha, MacDonald Dzirutwe, Richard Chang, Jane Merriman, Hugh Lawson Organizations: Citibank, Central Bank of Nigeria, Thomson Locations: ABUJA, Nigeria, Lagos