CBN: How Emefiele Escaped Buhari’s Sack; Problem Not Over

By Tosin Olatokunbo

For many hours, the mobile telephone of Godwin Emefiele, the Central Bank of Nigeria Governor rang repeatedly yesterday, while he was attending the World Economic Forum, WEF in Davos, Switzerland. Well wishers from Nigeria had called him to confirm whether he has been sacked from office.

The magazine learnt that Emefiele left the country on Tuesday immediately after the Monetary Policy committee, MPC, meeting in Abuja, with the assurance from power brokers  in the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC that all was well. So, he was surprised, as he later told some family members and friends, of reports that he has been sacked by President Muhammadu Buhari.

Some newspapers report (not The Source ) had on Wednesday, claimed that the CBN governor has been removed from office, citing some reasons, including his presidential ambition.

Indeed, the magazine learnt that some close aides of the President were shocked by Emefiele’s Presidential  ambition, and had told the President that what the CBN Governor is doing poses an ethical problems for the administration.

But the CBN Governor is said to be very close to the President’s family  who still wants him to remain in office “despite his errors”, a reliable presidential sources said.

Emefiele is among those who recently obtained the APC presidential nomination form to contest next year’s presidential election. He even went to court to challenge his eligibility to contest the highest office in the country, and had recently said God will determine whether he will contest or not.

Others have cited the economic situation in the country among others as reason for President Buhari to sack him. For instance, a pro- Buhari group, Nigeria First Movement, NFM had demanded Emefiele’s removal, citing his “final nail in the country’s already doomed economy,” as his major sin.

The pro-Buhari group which said the economy has been wobbling since the re-appointment of Emefiele by the president, vowed to mobilise over 200 other pro-Buhari groups against the apex bank governor if he failed to resign.

NFM said, “We are ready to champion the call for Emefiele’s removal by staging a one-week protest that could potentially cripple economic activities in Abuja. We’re also ready to mobilise over 200 other pro-Buhari groups across the globe in the ‘mother of all protests’ that would hold simultaneously in Abuja, Lagos and London against the nation’s poor economic posture.

“Emiefele played a pivotal role in the collapse of the economy since his appointment as the CBN chief and before his arrival, the economy was said to be one of the fastest growing in the world. Shortly after his reappointment in 2019, Emefiele announced a five-year plan that targets double-digit growth in one of Africa’s largest economies.

“His approach to policy implementation, however, has left many in doubt, raising questions on how his key policy moves, especially in the context of management of the exchange rate, benefits the economy, and the naira he sought to protect.

“For more than a year now, nothing has been done. The CBN under Emefile has shirked its primary responsibility of ensuring price stability and has embraced a more developmental role, in the hopes of naira stability.

“The regulatory bank’s aggressive lending policy has been called into question as well, causing some concerns over the bank chief’s stewardship of the banking sector. The CBN is forcing banks to lend, and penalising non-lenders. These are shareholders’ funds being deployed via fiat.”

Therfore, when the rumour mill was agog on Wednesday that he has been shown the way out, not a few jubilated that, at least, the President has listened to them.

But responding to the rumoured sack, the CBN said such only exists in the imagination of peddlers of the report.

According to the apex Bank’s spokesman, Osita Nwanisobi, the report is untrue.

“I also heard the same way you heard it. Honestly, to me I’m not aware of that development .The Governor left to attend the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, Switzerland immediately after the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) briefing” Nwanibosi told The Nation.

Meanwhile, Femi Falana, a human rights activist and Senior Advocate of Nigeria, SAN has disclosed that President Buhari lacks the power to sack the CBN Governor without the approval of the Senate.

But analysts of the issue also pointed out that In 2014, former President Goodluck Jonathan removed Sanusi Lamido Sanisi as CBN Governor without seeking the Senate approval.