Mr. Godwin Emefiele, Governor of the Central Bank (CBN) took to Twitter on Saturday to break his silence over his alleged ambition to contest for Nigeria’s Presidential Elections in 2023.
Emefiele had received barrage of criticism from the Netizens (Nigerians using the Internet) who urged him to resign over his alleged ambition to succeed President Muhammadu Buhari.
The netizens said although he (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).
But in a Tweet thread on Saturday from a verified account in the name of the CBN Governor, Godwin Emefiele, he clarified as follows:
“I am humbled by the growing interest of those asking that I run for the Office of President in the 2023 general elections: I have not come to that decision.
“I note and salute the sacrifices of those farmers and patriots going as far as raising personal funds and offering me Presidential Nomination Forms: I thank them most profusely.
“However, Should I answer their calls and decide to seek presidential nomination, I will use my own hard earned savings from over 35 years of banking leadership to buy my own Nomination Forms, without proxies in an open and transparent manner in full compliance with the laws and Constitution of The Federal Republic of Nigeria.
“And should I not run for elected office, I will continue to serve and sacrifice for the good people of Nigeria under the able leadership of President Muhammadu Buhari. This is a serious decision that requires God’s Divine intervention: in the next few days The Almighty will so direct.”
See the thread here:
