The All Progressives Party Chairman of Ward 6 in the Ika
South Local Government Area of Delta State, Mr Nduka Erikpume, has said the
Central Bank of Nigeria Governor, Mr Godwin Emefiele, is a member of the party.
Erikpume, in a telephone chat with one of our correspondents
on Sunday, said the CBN governor had registered as an APC member since February
2021.
When asked whether Emefiele had registered in the APC, Erikpume said, “Yes, he has registered since
February 2021. He is our member.”
Emefiele’s alleged involvement
in politics on Sunday attracted more strong condemnations, with senior lawyers
and other eminent Nigerians calling for his immediate resignation.
Senior lawyers and top politicians, who spoke separately, stated that Emefiele’s continuous stay as the CBN governor was
dangerous to the economy.
Three interest groups – the Rice Farmers Association of
Nigeria, Friends of Emefiele and Emefiele Support Group – last week paid
N100m for the APC presidential
expression of interest and nominations forms for Emefiele.
But the CBN governor, in a tweet on Saturday, said he was
still waiting for God’s direction, adding that he would purchase the N100m
forms himself if he entered the presidential race.
He said that he would continue to serve the country in his
capacity as CBN governor until he received divine counsel to contest for a
higher office.
A Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Kunle Adegoke, in a telephone interview on Sunday, said the CBN governor should resign his appointment
and become a politician if he intended to contest in the 2023 general
elections.
He said, “The governor of the central bank is expected to be
impartial and not be driven by his own personal interests or the interests of a
political party. Emefiele, as the governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria,
represents all Nigerians and in that capacity, he is obliged under the
constitution to serve each person irrespective of their political party or
affiliation.
“With that evident, it would be grossly irresponsible for
anybody to be agitating for the CBN governor to join politics. The CBN governor
is not entitled as a citizen of Nigeria to contest for a political office, but
where he desires to do so, he will have to resign his appointment and become a
politician, strictly speaking.
“The honourable thing for him to do is to resign if he is
the one behind all these calls for him to come and contest. Where he is not the
one, he ought to have come out earlier than now because we could see on social
media, the branded vehicles and then the claim that farmers have spent N100m to
buy him a nomination form of the All Progressives Congress. That is
questionable. The few farmers who are debtors under the Anchors Borrowers’
Programme cannot now be deploying their resources towards this.
“That also questions the integrity of funds and the whole
ABP project. Emefiele is supposed to stay away from such things that will lead
to unnecessary scandals.”
Another SAN,
Babatunde Ogala,said that it was inappropriate for a CBN
governor to be involved in politics, adding that Emefiele “should resign now or
be removed.”
On whether it was within Emefiele’s rights to run for
office, Ogala said, “That means Chairman of INEC (Independent National
Electoral Commission), Chief of Army Staff and the Inspector-General of Police
can also pick up forms and decide to run. It is immoral and a joke taken too
far. He shouldn’t ridicule our country. Where is that done?
“The CBN governor, the one who is supposed to manage our
treasury, is getting himself distracted
by politics. It is inappropriate. Emefiele should resign now. If he wants to
join politics, let him go into politics. He shouldn’t sit down as the head of
the treasury and be talking politics when he should be concentrating. That
means he’s a card-carrying member of a political party. It’s unacceptable.”
When brought to his notice that Emefiele is a card-carrying
member of the APC, Ogala called for the immediate resignation of the CBN
governor.
Similarly, Ebun-Olu Adegboruwa, SAN, kicked against the
alleged presidential ambition of the CBN governor.
Adegboruwa, who stated this in a telephone interview with
one of our correspondents on Sunday, stressed that his action was also not in
tandem with his position as the governor of the CBN.
He noted, “Under Section 1 of the CBN Act, the governor of
the central bank ought to maintain the autonomy and independence of the
financial institution in order to subject itself to political manipulations.
“If the CBN governor is interested in partisan politics, he
has to give up the position as the governor of the regulatory and apex bank in
Nigeria. This is because his action will throw the autonomy of the CBN under
political influence.
“As a member of the APC, Mr Emefiele is under the national
chairman, Abdullahi Adamu. As a member of the party, he is also under the
secretary of the party, Iyiola Omisore. How does a person regulating the
activities of banks become a servant to politicians, who have disputes with
these banks and have loans hanging on their necks?
“Also, Under Section 6 of the CBN Act, the person occupying
the position of the governor should not pursue any vocation that will result in
a conflict of interest. Therefore, pursuing presidential ambition is in
conflict with his position as the governor of CBN.”
But Lekan Ojo, SAN,
argued that there were constitutional provisions for public officeholders who
wanted to contest public offices and the constitution makes allowance till 180
days before general elections to tender his resignation.
He added, “The governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria is
also in a public office position and the constitution requires that people in
such office should tender their resignation 180 days before the election dates.
There is no provision in the constitution that states that
he cannot contest an electoral position, it only states that such must resign.
“Also, the law did not state that he must resign before
picking the nomination form or before the primaries, it only states that 180
days before the elections.”
Ojo noted that although there was a provision of the
electoral act that stipulated that public office holders running for political
positions must immediately resign their appointments, however, the case was
still in court and all things remained as they were until the case would be
decided by the court.
He said, “On the other side, there is an Electoral Act, 2022
that is currently in court. In the act, there is the precedence of the view
that a person holding a government office should resign his or her appointment
within a particular period before contesting an election or before the date of
an election.”
It is morally right for CBN gov to resign
The SAN also added that outside of the provisions of the
constitution and legal perspective, he believes it is morally right for
Emeifele to resign.
He said, added, “Outside of the law, on moral grounds, it is
honourable for him to resign because the position he is occupying is a very
sensitive position and he is expected to be apolitical. So, if we look at it
from that perspective, it’s wise for him or anyone in such a public office to
resign while contesting for a political office.”
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