Emefiele Wanted To Sabotage 2023 Polls – Akpabio

By Adesina Soyooye

Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, has said that former Governor of Central Bank of Nigeria Godwin Emefiele, tried to truncate the 2023 General Elections.

He spoke on Tuesday during screening to confirm Olayemi Cardoso as the Governor of Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, and four Deputy Governors.

In October 2022, a few months to the February 25, 2023 General Elections, the CBN, under Emefiele, announced the re-design of N200, N500 and N1,000 Naira notes.

It, also, declared that the old Naira notes would sieze to be legal tender on January 31, 2023.

The exercise brought untold  hardship upon Nigerians. Speaking on  Tuesday, Akpabio asked Cardoso if he would, like his predecessor, dabble into politics.

Emefiele, had, surprisingly, while in office, joined politics, and made to contest for the office of the President. He, however, chickened out of taking part in the Primary.

Speaking during Cardoso’s screening exercise, Akpabio said: “CBN Governor, will you uphold the integrity, steadfastness to resist when politicians come to you to join the presidential race and display your posters even as a sitting CBN Governor in political conventions?

“Will you rush to display your profile electronically at political conventions while sitting as a Governor because politicians have told you that you have enough money in CBN to do it?

“Don’t forget the fact that the money in the Central Bank isn’t for you. Will you have the courage to resist the temptation to listen to politicians and throw your hat into the ring and go back to your office and sit as CBN Governor?

“Will you rush to sabotage the election in Nigeria by going for new notes, two days to the election when no country in the world changes new notes within one year, you do your own in 14 days or 11 to see how you can sabotage the election in Nigeria?”

Emefiele was suspended from office by President Tinubu in June. He was arrested on the orders of the  Federal Government by the Department of State Services, DSS. He is being prosecuted by the Federal Government for sundry issues including corruption.