Arrest, Prosecute CBN Gov Now – PDP Tells EFCC

The opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has called on the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to immediately arrest and commence the prosecution of the governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Mr Godwin Emefiele over what it describes as a violation of
CBN Act 2007 and Section 030422 of the Public Service Rule.

Speaking through its National Publicity Secretary, Hon. Debo Ologunagba, the PDP said that on 25th March 2022, alerted the nation when it received intelligence that Mr Emefiele was being promoted by the Presidency as the presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the 2023 general elections.

The party said that at that time it drew the attention of Nigerians to the provisions of the CBN Act 2007 and particularly referenced Section 9 which provides that “the Governor and the Deputy Governors shall devote the whole of their time to the service of the bank and while holding office, shall not engage in any full or part-time employment or vocation, whether remunerated or not…”

The PDP maintains the provision is clear in demanding that 100 per cent of the time and expertise of the CBN Governor and Deputy Governors shall be dedicated to the service of the CBN. “This is because the CBN is critical to the integrity and stability of our economy”, the party insists.

Quoting Section 030422 of the Public Service Rule which states that no public officer shall (a) “hold any office, paid or unpaid, permanent or temporary, in any political organization”, (b) offer himself/herself or nominate anyone else as a candidate for any elective public office…”, (c) “indicate publicly his support of or opposition to any party, candidate or policy and (d) “engage in canvassing in support of political candidates” unless such officer resigns his appointment, the PDP stressed that Section 030502 (g) of the Rule lists “engaging in partisan political activities as a serious act of misconduct.

“Emefiele’s involvement in politics without resigning as CBN Governor, therefore, amounts to gross misconduct in contravention of Section 11 2 (2)(c) of the CBN Act.

“Now that Mr Emefiele has joined politics and reportedly obtained the N100 million Presidential aspirant form from the APC, he cannot continue to resume at the CBN which is the commonwealth of our nation.

“By this Mr Emefiele has become a clear and present danger to the health, integrity and reputation of the CBN and our nation’s financial sector. His continued stay as CBN Governor will further destroy investors’ confidence in the integrity of our nation’s financial regulatory Institution.

“Mr Emefiele’s involvement in partisan politics while still holding office as CBN Governor underpins the impunity, lawlessness and recklessness of the Muhammadu Buhari-led APC administration. It further confirms that the CBN under Emefiele has all along been the finance department of the APC.”

The PDP further noted that the summersault of the economy under Mr Emefiele has been influenced by a personal partisan interest for which the CBN under his watch allegedly allowed multiple leakages in the nation’s financial regulations through discriminatory exchange rate policies and nebulous subsidies to funnel billions of naira to political lackeys to fund a presidential ambition.

“This also explains why under Emefiele, the CBN which is supposed to be the bankers’ bank continues to engage in fraudulent retail banking services under ill-defined economic intervention programmes to plunder the treasury.

“The tsunamic and fiscal policies of the CBN under Emefiele brought untold hardship to the productive and service sectors of our nation’s economy with a consequential negative effect on the lives of our citizens.

“It is indeed saddening that President Muhammadu Buhari, who promised zero tolerance for corruption will enable, encourage and condone such an atrocious regime in the CBN where our economy is open to fraudulent pillaging to promote a political ambition.

“Our party stands with Nigerians in demanding the immediate arrest, investigation and prosecution of Mr Emefiele by security and anti-graft agencies, particularly the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) for alleged financial malfeasance and abuse of office in the CBN under his watch”, the PDP stated