President Bola Tinubu has suspended the Central Bank Governor, Godwin Emefiele
Headline Gist: Tinubu suspends Emefiele as CBN Governor
In a statement on Friday night, Willie Bassey, the director of information at the office of the secretary to the government of the federation, disclosed this.
According to the statement, the suspension of the CBN Governor is a result of the current investigation into his office and the forthcoming banking sector reforms.
Mr. Emefiele has been instructed to immediately transfer control of his office's affairs to the Deputy Governor (Operations Directorate), who will serve as the Central Bank Governor while the inquiry and reforms are ongoing.
Mr. Emefiele served as Zenith Bank Plc's Group Managing Director prior to his appointment.
Nigerians have criticized the suspended CBN chairman for his handling of the economy, his politics, and the apex bank's contentious policies ever since he took office in 2014.
The naira, the currency of Nigeria, has significantly declined during his administration; as of Thursday, it was trading at N469.50 per dollar on the spot market and over N750 per dollar in the parallel market, which is the lowest it has ever traded on the Investors and Exporters (I&E) window.
Under Mr. Emefiele, the top bank has also struggled to control the country's inflation rate, which, according to the national statistics office, was 22.2% in May.
- Struggles The last year, the State Security Service (SSS) alleged that Mr Emefiele had been financing terrorism, among other allegations.
The SSS secretly requested a court order in December to arrest him on allegations of “financing terrorism, fraudulent activities, and economic crimes of national security dimension.”
This request was, however, rejected by the Federal High Court in Abuja because the secret security unit failed to present sufficient evidence to justify issuing an arrest warrant against Mr Emefiele.
Mr Emefiele also faced a barrage of criticism due to his controversial foray into partisan politics, which saw him contest for the presidential ticket of the ruling All Progressive Congress. Although the governor tried to deny his involvement in partisan politics, support groups were calling for his emergence as flagbearer of the ruling party.
The governor’s unprecedented involvement in partisan politics attracted widespread condemnation, with experts expressing worries about the governor’s impartiality and the autonomy of the CBN.
Naira redesign
In the last quarter of 2022, the CBN also introduced a naira redesign policy that was widely criticised for the uncertainty and widespread chaos it triggered across Nigeria.
As a result of the policy, which was met with bad banking operations, angry Nigerians protested around the country, causing widespread disruption.
In the midst of the campaign, Mr. Tinubu, the APC candidate at the time, asserted that the CBN's policies—such as the cap on cash withdrawals at N20,000 per day and N100,000 per week—were specifically intended to reduce his prospects of obtaining the presidency.
The country's statistics office indicated last month that the CBN's naira redesign program was to blame for the first quarter slowdown in Nigeria's GDP.
Make an arrest and file charges
Leading members of the civil society and well-known Nigerians called for Mr. Emefiele's arrest and prosecution in the midst of the chaos.
In March, VIRALGISTBLOG, also known as Nigeria's top investigative publication, for the governor of the central bank's detention and prosecution.
The news source restated its position in an editorial and expressed displeasure at the anti-people cash practices implemented by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) while Mr. Emefiele was in charge.
The commentary criticized the CBN for disobeying the Supreme Court's order regarding the old naira notes. It was mentioned that the central bank's restriction on cash withdrawals violates peoples' rights.
Since the currency swap policy went into place, "and most have had to live with a frightening range of infringements," the newspaper's editorial said.
"These have included the economic (platforms for lost profits in the economy's informal sector), to the from the philosophical (just attempting to make sense of the policy's conception, implementation, and projected consequences) to the emotional (having to beg for money from friends, relatives, neighbors, and strangers to satisfy basic requirements)."
