Nigerians using the Internet (Netizens) have urged Mr. Godwin Emefiele, Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to resign over his alleged ambition to succeed Muhammadu Buhari as President in 2023.
The netizens said although Emefiele reserves the right as a Nigerian to seek to become the President, however, the sensitivity of his present office portends danger to the economy and the polity at large.
SERAP, a civil society organization using the handle @SERAPNigeria, tweeted:
“BREAKING: Following reports that the CBN governor Mr Godwin Emefiele has picked the APC N100m presidential nomination form, we urge him to immediately resign his position in line with S. 9 of the CBN Act.
“Engaging in politics will conflict with/detract from his full-time duties”.
@the_davidatta tweets:
“If I didn’t believe there was an AsoRock cabal, the audacity of Emefiele to even consider running for president, something Sanusi himself didn’t attempt, is making me start to believe”.
The Ondo State Governor, Mr Rotimi Akeredolu also tweeted. He called on the President, Muhammadu Buhari, to sack the Governor of the Central Bank, for obtaining of All Progressives Congress presidential nomination form.
Akeredolu, in a statement he personally signed on Friday, said Emefiele’s purported action, “if unchecked timeously portends great danger to the fragile economy of the country.”
The governor said, “It is incontrovertible that Mr Emefiele enjoys a constitutionally protected right to belong to any group or association and participate fully, just as any Nigerian. It is, however, difficult to imagine that a person who occupies the exalted and sensitive office of the governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria will be this brazen in actualising his ambition.
“There is no gain asserting the obvious. The combined effect of the Public Service Rules, CBN Act and the 1999 Constitution, as amended, exposes not only the oddity inherent in this brash exercise of presumed right to associate. It also confirms the illegality of the act should he proceed to submit the forms while occupying the seat as Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria.
“He cannot combine partisan politics with the very delicate assignment of his office. Should he refuse to quit, it becomes incumbent on the President and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces to remove him forthwith. This is a joke taken too far.”
Another Twitter user using the handle @SulemanSuls tweets:
“I expected him to have been fired immediately he started making the movements and efcc and dss should make life difficult for him.
“He’s gone far below I expected of him
“There’s absolutely non (sic) of these contestants that can rule Nigeria according to what Nigeria needs now”;
Kalu Aja using the handle @FinPlanKaluAja1 also launched a poll on the subject matter:
“Godwin Emefiele has ridiculed the office of the Central Bank Governor.
“He lacks any moral authority to oversee the monetary policy or external reserves of Nigeria.
“He is essentially deploying the Ways and Means privileges to fund his politcal ambition.
“He should resign”.
The genesis of the matter was the news that farmers across the country bought the N100m presidential nomination and expression of interest forms of the All Progressives Congress (APC) for the CBN Governor , Godwin Emefiele.
Operating under the banner of a coalition of commodity associations in Nigeria, the farmers took the decision of purchasing the forms for Emefiele on Wednesday at the end of a two-day intensive meeting in Maitama, Abuja, that drew more than 30 commodity associations from 36 states of the federation and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).
It is not yet clear if the CBN Governor has accepted to seek for election to become President of Nigeria from may 2023.
