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Tag: Godwin Emefiele

  • BREAKING: CBN raises interest rate to 14 per cent

    BREAKING: CBN raises interest rate to 14 per cent

    The policy-setting committee of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has raised the monetary policy rate (MPR), which measures the interest rate in the country from 13 per cent to 14 per cent.

    TheNewsGuru.com (TNG) reports Mr Godwin Emefiele, Governor of the CBN made this known at a press briefing on the outcome of the 286th monetary policy committee meeting.

    The interest rate, which was pegged at 11.5% for over two years, was raised to 13% in May to tackle rising inflation, according to Emefiele.

    Meanwhile, the committee retained the asymmetric corridor at +100/–700 basis points around the MPR, retained the Credit Reserve Ratio (CRR) at 27.5% as well as liquidity ratio at 30%.

    ALSO READ || Why we raised interest rate – CBN Governor, Emefiele

    The monetary policy committee meeting was held in Lagos State on 18 to 19 July 2022.

  • RETRACTION: Godwin Emefiele does not own Titan Trust Bank

    RETRACTION: Godwin Emefiele does not own Titan Trust Bank

    TheNewsGuru.com (TNG) investigation has shown that contrary to an earlier viral story which inadvertently found its way into our platform, through a cub reporter, the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Godwin Emefiele is neither the owner nor an investor in Titan Trust Bank, which in December 2021 bought over majority shareholdings in Union Bank of Nigeria.

    Following our house rules, we removed almost immediately the item from our platform.

    Our further investigation confirms what the Chairman of Titan Trust Bank, a former Deputy Governor of the Central bank of Nigeria, Tunde Lemo, said after Titan Trust acquired majority shares (93.4 per cent) of Union Bank of Nigeria in December 2021: “Titan Trust Bank is 85% owned by Vink Corporation, a subsidiary and trading unit of Tropical General Investments Ltd (TGI), a foreign firm, which has operated in some form in Nigeria since 1991.

    The remaining 15% shares of the bank is owned locally by a diverse group including Mr Lemo 0.9% and Andrew Chukwudi Ojei 0.9 who are both on the board of the bank.

    We are embarrassed and apologize profusely to our esteemed readers, Godwin Emefiele, Titan Trust Bank, the TGI group and all those who hold us in high esteem.

    ALSO READ || Titan Trust Bank completes take over of Union Bank

    We hold tenaciously to the ethics of journalism and believe in free enterprise, in rule of law, in fairness, equity and justice, which are the foundation on which TNG stands.

    Stern measures have been taken to ensure such laxity does not reoccur.

  • Nigeria targets $200bn from non-oil exports – Emefiele

    Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria Godwin Emefiele, has called for collaboration from all stakeholders in the non-oil export value-chain, as the sector has the potential of generating $200 billion in revenue and stimulating growth of the Nigerian economy if properly harnessed.

    Emefiele made the call on Thursday June 16, at the on-going maiden edition of the Bank’s non-oil summit holding in Lagos state.

    He noted that the Nigerian economy has been challenged on many fronts due to a combination of local and global factors, making macro-economic management very difficult, especially foreign exchange availability and management.

    These factors, he explained that while these factors exposed the fragility of the Nigerian economy and the need for a more diversified economy, the apex bank has been confronted with rising demands for foreign exchange for goods, services and other needs.

    “With this unbaiting demand, the Bank has been working to manage both demand and supply sides, to meet the foreign exchange obligations in Nigeria,” the bank Governor said, stressing that monetary policy alone cannot all the burden of expected adjustments needed to manage these challenges.

    “Nigeria can be great in export. Before we found oil, Nigeria was exporting commodities. We found oil and we all went to bed. It is time for us to get jolted to get out of bed and begin to do the right things for the good of our country; so that the CBN can refine foreign exchange.

    “In fact, people do not need to come to Central Bank of Nigeria to ask for foreign exchange to import, the banks should be able to find foreign exchange for exporters to fund import needs of Nigerians; that is what we desire and we will need the support of everybody.

    “While I welcome you all to this event, my hope is that this will be a problem-solving gathering; a summit that would guarantee that for every complaint, problem, issues, challenge difficulty that is presented or identified, there will be one or several agencies of practitioners that will articulate options for solving that problem

    “I strongly believe that the ideas harnessed from this maiden summit, will be invaluable in helping us reach our ultimate goal of $200 billion in non-oil export over the medium-term. I am mindful that this goal itself may appear unattainable to some, but I’m resolute and determined that we can achieve them,” Emefiele stated.

  • CBN clears air on rumours of Emefiele’s sack

    CBN clears air on rumours of Emefiele’s sack

    The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has debunked rumour that its governor Godwin Emefiele has been sacked.

     

    The rumour followed the decision of the CBN to increase the interest rate from 11.5% to 13%, citing rising inflation and the need to avoid a lack of demand for Nigeria’s bonds.

    CBN
    CBN governor, Godwin Emefiele

     

    There have been calls for Emefiele’s resignation or sack over his presidential aspiration.

     

    However, reacting to the fresh rumour on Wednesday that Emefiele had been relieved of his duties, CBN spokesman Osita Nwanisiobi told Nairametrics that “he is not aware of any sack of the CBN governor.”

     

    It was also learnt that Emefiele is in Davos on an official assignment.

     

    He had approached a federal court seeking to restrain the bank’s board, the attorney general of the federation and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) from hindering him from running for the office of the president.

     

    Since backing off from his presidential ambition, Emefiele has withdrawn the suit from the court.

     

    TheNewsGuru.com (TNG) reports that he withdrew the suit filed against the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and the Attorney-General of the Federation over his presidential ambition.

     

    Emefiele, through his counsel, S.T. Maliki, told Justice Ahmed Mohammed that a notice of discontinuance had been filed and served on the defendants in the matter.

     

    Maliki, who held the brief of Chief Mike Ozekhome, SAN, said though the matter was scheduled for mention, they had Emefiele’s instruction to withdraw the suit.

     

    “Pursuant to the instruction of the plaintiff (Emefiele), we filed a notice of discontinuance dated and filed May16, 2022.

     

    “And the said notice of discontinuance was served on all the defendants on that said date of May 16, 2022, which proof of service is before your lordship,” Maliki said.

     

    The lawyer said of all the defendants, only the 4th and 5th defendants filed a counter-affidavit in response to the plaintiff’s amended originating summons after the notice of withdrawal had been served on them.

     

    He prayed the court to discontinue the suit and make an order striking it out, issues having not been joined by parties in the suits, citing Order 50 of the rules of this court.

     

    Although the lawyer of the 4th defendant, John Aikpokpo-Martins, opposed Emefiele’s intention to withdraw the suit, he urged the court to dismiss the suit with N1.5 million cost.

     

    However, counsel for the 2nd and 3rd defendants, Chris Nevo and T. J. Adi respectively did not object to the withdrawal notice.

  • CBN raises MPR to 13%, retains other parameters

    CBN raises MPR to 13%, retains other parameters

    For the first time in over two years,  the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has increased the Monetary Policy Rate (MPR) to 13 per cent.

    Mr Godwin Emefiele, Governor of the CBN, said this while reading the 285th communiqué issued at the end of the apex bank’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting on Tuesday.

    Emefiele said that the committee also decided to retain all other parameters.

    Thus, the asymmetric corridor was retained at +100/-700 Basic Points around the MPR, the Cash Reserve Ratio (CRR) retained at 27.50 per cent and the Liquidity Ratio retained at 30.00 per cent.

    The MPC had retained the former MPR of 11.5 per cent for over two years.

    Emefiele said the committee was faced with various options, but guided by the need to slow down inflationary pressure while engendering economic growth.

    He said that, though the 11 MPC members unanimously voted to raise the MPR, they provided divergent opinions on the level of increase.

    “Six members voted to raise the MPR by 150 basis points, four members’ by 100 basis points and one member, by 50 basis points.

    “Members expressed deep concern about the continued uptrend of inflationary pressure in spite the gradual improvement in output growth.

    “Committee notes that the current rise in inflation is inimical to growth and the full recovery of the Nigerian economy,’’ he said.

    He said that several options were considered before the decision to increase the MPR.

    “After carefully reviewing developments in the two months, and outlook of growth in the domestic and global economy as well as downsides of each policy.

    “It is clear and compelling that tackling inflation is more urgent in sequence of policy objectives.

    “MPC urged the CBN to double its effort at supporting the priority growth-enhancing sectors of the economy.

    “It urged the Federal Government to do more to provide a safe and secure environment for economic activities to stimulate growth,’’ he said.

  • CBN Gov. Godwin Emefiele withdraws suit against INEC, Malami

    CBN Gov. Godwin Emefiele withdraws suit against INEC, Malami

    Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Godwin Emefiele, has withdrawn the suit he filed against the independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and the Attorney-General of the Federation over his presidential ambition

    Emefiele, through his counsel, S.T. Maliki, told Justice Ahmed Mohammed that a notice of discontinuance had been filed and served on the defendants in the matter.

    S.T Maliki made the discontinuation of the case known shortly after it was called for hearing.

    Maliki, who held the brief of Chief Mike Ozekhome, SAN, said though the matter was scheduled for the mention, they had Emefiele’s instruction to withdraw the suit.

    “Pursuant to the instruction of the plaintiff (Emefiele), we filed a notice of discontinuance dated and filed May 16, 2022.

    “And the said notice of discontinuance was served on all the defendants on that said date of May 16, 2022, which proof of service is before your lordship,” Maliki said.

    The lawyer said of all the defendants, only the 4th and 5th defendants filed a counter-affidavit in response to the plaintiff’s amended originating summons after the notice of withdrawal had been served on them.

    He prayed the court to discontinue the suit and make an order striking it out.

    Although the lawyer to the 4th defendant, John Aikpokpo-Martins, opposed Emefiele’s intention to withdraw the suit, he urged the court to dismiss the suit at the cost of N1.5 million.

    However, counsel for the 2nd and 3rd defendants, Chris Nevo and T. J. Adi, respectively, did not object to the withdrawal notice.

    For Nevo, he asked the court to award a N1 million cost against Emefiele.

    In his ruling, Justice Mohammed held that Emefiele had the right to file the notice of withdrawal.

    He said the notice of discontinuance was valid and accordingly struck out.

    The NewsGuru.com reports that Emefiele, through his lawyer, Ozekhome, had approached the court few backs over the matter.

    He had approached the court with an ex-parte motion, seeking the court’s interpretation as to whether he could run for the 2023 presidential primary while he holds office as governor of CBN.

    Emefiele is the current CBN governor and also nurses ambition to become Nigeria’s president in 2023.

     

  • The Tinubu, Jonathan, Emefiele, Kalu, Adesina, Malami stories – By Ehichioya Ezomon

    The Tinubu, Jonathan, Emefiele, Kalu, Adesina, Malami stories – By Ehichioya Ezomon

    Nigeria’s absurd political situation is playing out before our eyes in the plethora of presidential aspirants of the All Progressives Congress (APC) competing for the number one spot in the polity.

    Lately, the stories involving the aspirants are a mixed bag of the good, the bad and the ugly in the drama-filled processes of the general election that cruises into a crescendo in February 2023.
    If you consider political influence, reach, mobilisation, and perhaps war chest for the primaries, you’ll place the National Leader of the APC, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, in front to lead the stories.
    But you’ll be wrong because of the scale and magnitude of shenanigans weaved around “persuadable aspirants,” such as former President Goodluck Jonathan; Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Godwin Emefiele; Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Timipre Sylva; Senate President Ahmad Lawan; Senate Chief Whip Orji Uzor Kalu; and President of the African Development Bank (AfDB), Akinwunmi Adesina.
    For an icing on the “political cake” under review, you can throw in the mix the governorship aspiration of the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami (SAN).
    Except Tinubu, all the aspirants were “earnestly begged, cajoled, blackmailed or forced” by so-called “support groups” to accept a presidential ambition or declare their intentions for same.
    Though his aspiration is of subnational, let’s view Mr Malami, who, months before he’s appointed in 2015, reportedly told a Kano radio that, “he couldn’t afford N12 million to renovate his residence.”
    But seven years after, Malami is a billionaire that can give hundreds of Sport Utility Vehicles (SUVs) to party supporters he’s wooing for the governorship ticket in 2022, and election in 2023 in Kebbi State.
    What statutory incomes have accrued to Malami, to afford giving out hundreds of cars amid accusation of owning choice property, hotels and an international school, in cities in Nigeria?
    Without speaking to the allegations of his stupendous wealth that’s ostensibly acquired in government, Malami’s real scandal is in doubling down on distributing hundreds of cars to his constituents.
    The other day, addressing his supporters, in Hausa language, Malami thumped his nose at his critics, promising that if God willed, he’d distribute airplanes for the constituents.
    His words: “They (political opponents) have been reporting that we shared about 200 Mercedes cars. They are used to distributing hard drugs, but we share cars. So, they will not be happy with the good things we are doing. If Allah gives us the opportunity, we will share aeroplanes, not just cars.” His listeners exploded in applause!
    Many pressure groups, within and outside Nigeria, have called on, and are prepared to drag Dr Jonathan into the 2023 electoral fray, to actualise his second term bid that’s thwarted in 2015 with the election of retired Gen. Muhammadu Buhari as president.
    Jonathan, then dubbed as “clueless” and “incompetent,” is today paraded as the “new Messiah” to cure Nigeria’s insecurity, poverty and national disunity that are more glaring than they’re in 2015.
    In their scheming, the persuaders have purchased N100 million APC Expression of Interest and Nomination Forms for Jonathan, who has turned down the offer as without his knowledge and authorisation.
    Yet, the sing-song by his agitated supporters is that, “Jonathan must run,” but on the condition that he’s given “automatic ticket” by the APC, which, as insiders note, has designed the “Withdrawal Letter” attached to the nomination forms, “so as to weed out the ‘undesirable aspirants’ for Jonathan to get the ticket.”
    Dr Emefiele’s declining the nomination forms appears a ploy to stave off calls by especially Ondo State Governor Rotimi Akeredolu (SAN) for him to resign and pursue his presidential ambition.
    And going to court, to seek an injunction to stop the government and INEC from sacking him or refusing his aspiration under the APC, exposes Emefiele as a hidden partisan for a while.
    Actually, the Chairman, Ward 6 in Ika South local government area of Delta State, Mr. Nduka Erikpume, has confirmed Emefiele’s membership of the APC, for which he registered in February 2021.
    In the interim, a Federal High Court in Abuja has refused Emefiele’s prayers, moved by Human Rights Lawyer, Chief Mike Ozekhome (SAN), and fixed the hearing of the application for this week.
    Ironically, as Jonathan and Emefiele rejected the nomination forms from political interlopers, Chief Sylva, grinning from ear to ear in pictorials, received his from presidential promoters, who stormed the NNPC Towers in Abuja on May 9, to force him to be president.
    The question: Must tens of aspirants gear up for a single slot in the APC? Maybe due to reported promises by influence-peddlers that they’d be made president by the “kingmakers” that determine who becomes what in Nigeria!
    The presidency hawkers may’ve ensnared Dr Adesina, to persuade him to join the bandwagon from his exalted seat of the AfDB, with the purchase of nomination forms for him to be president.
    Adesina, who hasn’t uttered a word about his aspiration, is touted as the “compromise candidate of the South-West” in the shadow-boxing by Asiwaju Tinubu and Vice President Yemi Osinbajo’s support groups to cancel out each other’s principal in the race.
    Now the-story-that-touches-the-heart in the political melodrama of the 2023 elections. It’s the withdrawal from the presidential contest by Dr Kalu, thus throwing his millions of supporters nationwide into disappointment and regrets.
    Kalu’s an early bird to the presidency of an Easterner of Igbo extraction. He made that a condition precedent on his vying for the post, even as he pledged to match Tinubu’s formidable political machine Naira-for-Naira, grit-for-grit and vote-for-vote.
    But that epic battle will not be, as Kalu withdraws his presidential bid, obtains the nomination forms for re-election into the Senate, and backs the presidential aspiration of Dr Lawan.
    A wily Lawan, reportedly promised the presidency, and looks a sure bet to clinch the ticket that’s eluded the North-East (where he hails from) since democracy returned in 1999, has allegedly additionally obtained nomination forms for a return to the Senate.
    A favoured Lawan with the APC ticket could pick Kalu, a classmate, friend and political ally, as his running mate. And that, at least, would assuage the feelings of Kalu’s supporters across Nigeria.
    As things got weirder the past week, the Campaign Director of the Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu Support Groups Management Council (ABATSGMC), Abdulmumin Jibrin, “defected” from the APC.
    In tweets, the former member of House of Representatives said: “I have done my best for APC. It’s time to move on. I will announce my new political party within the next 24 hours insha Allah. I will make a formal statement in due course.” Still waiting for his moves!
    Two quick takes: Jubrin’s action is allegedly a precursor to a Tinubu “Plan B” to dump the APC, which the “Jagaban” has denied, but insists on credible primaries; and Jubrin jumped ship because he’s refused a return ticket to the National Assembly (NASS).
    Even as Kano State Governor Abdullahi Ganduje reportedly steps in to get Jubrin a reprieve, the totality of the presidential undercurrents – to zone or not to zone, and the sheer number of aspirants – has elevated the APC to an absurd “Fuji house of commotion.”

    *Mr Ezomon, Journalist and Media Consultant, writes from Lagos, Nigeria.

  • Are you not ashamed to be called a Nigerian? – By Mideno Bayagbon

    Are you not ashamed to be called a Nigerian? – By Mideno Bayagbon

    By Mideno Bayagbon

    (mideno@thenewsguru.ng)

    I had wanted to write about the perfidy represented by the trio of the disgraceful Central Bank of Nigeria Governor, Godwin Ifeanyi Emefiele’s conduct; the unbelievable mumu-ishness of former President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan; and the shamelessness of Minister of Labour, Dr Chris Ngige. But a late night discussion with a friend, whose medical condition kept him in the United Kingdom for almost one year, and hundreds of thousand of Pound Sterling later, changed all that. He had just returned with barely the skin of his life. God, and not medical science, has kept him alive. He is back and is immediately thrown into the abyss we have descended as nation. A symptom of which is darkness generated by 3000 megawatts of power shared by 200 million people.

    Our discussion; no, lamentation, stole my peace of mind, gave me a sleepless night. I tossed and tossed and wished in vain for sleep. My brain just couldn’t find enough rest to fall asleep. A resort to self help pills failed abysmally. A sense of shame, which is our collective lot, enveloped me. The comedic political nuisance sprouting all over Nigeria, ensured that sleep went on an uninvited sabbatical. How I wished, over and over again, that I didn’t have that discussion about Nigeria. But too late.

    My mind, on its own will went on an excavation of our history. It dived deep and was relentless. The mission being to find out where the rain started beating us. Where we fell into the cesspit. How far we have sunk. What, if anything, can be done to dig ourselves out of the deep morass. Questions kept popping up as I struggled with facts and history: where did we get it all wrong, who were the major actors? How could we not sustain the golden Yakubu GowonYakubu Gowon era in which all the major infrastructure, we have now destroyed or are pillaging, were conceived and built?

    Yes, the military misadventure into politics is the progenitor. It spurned the catastrophic civil war, it brought near-nitwits into power. It destroyed the foundation every developing nation relies on: its civil service and recruitment of quality manpower to man its leadership positions. It brought the brash but zealous Murtala Mohammed who destroyed a significant level of the nation’s development by destroying the civil service. He brought to an end the era of the Super Permanent Secretaries and well crafted and executed development plans which saw the Gowon regime transforming the economy and positioning it for massive development.

    The General Olusegun Obasanjo regime built major infrastructure by following the vision to make Nigeria a shining light in Africa and the world. This was a vision encapsulated in the already in-place development plan. The successive regimes that overthrew the civilian government of Alhaji Shehu Shagari put the final nail on the nation’s coffin. Surprisingly, the man at the helms of affairs in Aso Rock today, General Muhammadu Buhari, was a major player in the downward slope into the abyss. It is hardly a surprise that the leopard has not changed its skin. His current seven year tenure, as a civilian president, so far, has been an unmitigated disaster. He has taken the nation so far back that the average Nigerian life was better off in 1970 when the civil war ended than it is today. His is an incompetent, divisive and anachronistic government.

    The little modicum of quality civil service ethics left has since been thrown into the garbage dump by President Buhari’s clannish and fundamentalist adherence to religion and region. The only qualification needed under his government is not competence and top range education but what the Igbos describe as mma-madu! You have to be related somehow to Buhari, come from a certain section of Nigeria and practice a particular strand of his religion; and or be affiliated to one of his minions. That is all that qualifies you. There is no department or ministry today where competence, quality, experience and right education have not been sacrificed.

    In 62 years of unbelievable wealth thrown on our lap by God, we are today not just the poverty capital of the world, we are the laughing stock to our poor neighbouring countries and indeed the entire world. Take for example, Ghana and Benin Republic. Today, they are ranked far higher than Nigeria in the human capital development index. They are more stable, more secure and rated higher on the world development scale than richly blessed Nigeria. Ghanaians indeed mock Nigerians as a stupid set of people, a failed state. Small Ghana with GDP less than Lagos, Rivers and maybe a few other states. They laugh at our stupidity, at our self-inflicted power situation where probably hundreds of billions of dollars have been sunk into darkness. They laugh at our destroyed educational sector. The laugh at the fact that poor to middle level Nigerians, who cannot afford to pay the higher fees in Europe, Canada and the Americas, now flood Ghana and Benin Republic mushroom universities. They laugh at the trash piece that is now our Naira.

    And it is not their fault. Like everything else, we have destroyed the outstanding educational system, which till about the middle of the 1980s, was among the best worldwide. Yet, a failed Labour Minister, Chris Ngige, whose seven years tenure has seen to the total destruction of all that is left of our tertiary education wants to be president. All public universities since the Buhari regime started have spent most of the years on shut down. Yet, Ngige was bold enough to fork out N100 million to buy the expression of interest and nomination forms of the All Progressives Congress, APC, presidential forms. He too, unbelievably wanted to be president of Nigeria. A man who has failed so spectacularly in the assignment he was given wants to be the Lord of the manor.

    From being a nation which enjoyed medical tourism from other nations, whose universities competed with the best in the world; from being a nation which produced the Chinua Achebes, the Wole Soyinkas, Cyprian Ekwensis and the legion of literary scholars, a nation which produced the Dr Nnamdi Azikiwe, the Chief Obafemi Awolowo, the Ahmadu Bello, Sarduana Sokoto, we have become a nation of beggarly Lilliputians. We have become a nation where the worst of us rides roughshod over the best of us. We have become a nation whose best brain drains or get sentenced to stew in poverty, unrecognised and unappreciated. We have become a nation where a professor earns less than a local government councillor in real terms. Hence it is no surprise that most of our best brains, in every field, have fled and are fleeing the nation to go to other nations where they are valued and appreciated.

    Today, following the bad example set by President Muhammadu Buhari, who has failed in almost every area of governance, all who can afford it, not wanting to take the risk of getting treated in a Nigerian hospital, are all flooding Europe, India and America for treatment for illnesses and diseases which were easily handled by our doctors even as far back as 50 years ago.

    What kept me awake all night is the fact that we are a nation that likes living in denial. Like the ostrich, instead of confronting the myriad of problems confronting the nation and Nigerians, we bury our heads in the sands of self deluding politics, ethnicity and religion. We are engrossed in the feverish pitch of 2023 elections as if that is a be all ultimate solution to all our problems. And taking their clue, a sleuth of no good politicians are flooding the land wanting to replace the incompetence of the Buhari regime with a more confounding incompetence. That accounts for the lack of vision, the lack of detailed plans by any of the aspirants on how to tackle the devilish evils roaming naked around the country.

    It is clear that until the nation lines behind a shared vision, until our best brains are allowed to take over the reins, until we return excellency to our civil service and governance, until we decide to place the education of our youths on the top cylinder and rejig our health system, hoping that the 2023 presidential and other elections will somehow, by some fluke, produce the leaders who will drag us back from the precipice of the looming implosion will just be another pipe dream, a mirage never held in pursuit.

  • BREAKING: Buhari asks CBN Gov, Godwin Emefiele to hand over

    BREAKING: Buhari asks CBN Gov, Godwin Emefiele to hand over

    President Muhammadu Buhari has asked the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Mr Godwin Emefiele to hand over.

    TheNewsGuru.com (TNG) reports Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Mr. Boss Mustapha made this known in a circular obtained on Thursday morning.

    President Buhari gave the order after first asking members of his cabinet who have the interest to contest office in the 2023 general election to resign.

    In the circular released by Mustapha on Buhari’s directive, heads of extra-ministerial departments, agencies, parastatals of goverment, ambassadors and other political office holders who have the interest to contest the upcoming presidential, gubernatorial, national and state assemblies’ elections were also affected.

    According to the circular, affected ministers are to hand over to Ministers of State where they exist or to the Permanent Secretary, where there is no Minister of State, Ambassadors shall hand over to their Deputy Heads of Mission or the most Senior Foreign Service Officer in line with established practices.

    Similarly, Heads of Extra-Ministerial Departments, Agencies and Parastatals are to hand over to the most senior Director/Officer as may be peculiar to the organisation.

    The Circular reads: “Mr. President has observed and noted the expression of interest and intention by some members of the Federal Executive Council, Heads of Extra-Ministerial Departments, Agencies, Parastatals of Goverment, Ambassadors and other Political Office holders to contest the upcoming Presidential, Gubernatorial, National and State Assemblies’ elections.

    “Consequently, Mr. President has directed that the affected office holders aspiring to run for various offices in the 2023 General Elections, should tender their resignation on or before Monday, the 16th of May, 2022.

    “For the avoidance of doubt, this directive affects all Ministers, Heads and Members of Extra-Ministerial Departments, Agencies and Parastatals of Government, Ambassadors as well as other political appointees who desire to contest for elective offices.

    “For smooth running of the machinery of government and our foreign Missions, affected Ministers are to hand over to Ministers of State where they exist or to the Permanent Secretary, where there is no Minister of State, Ambassadors shall hand over to their Deputy Heads of Mission or the most Senior Foreign Service Officer in line with established practices.

    “Similarly, Heads of Extra-Ministerial Departments, Agencies and Parastatals are to hand over to the most senior Director/Officer as may be peculiar to the organisation, in line with the service wide Circular No. SGF 50/S. I/C 2/268 of 4 December, 2017”.

  • #Meffy2023: A joke taken too far – By Chidi Odinkalu

    #Meffy2023: A joke taken too far – By Chidi Odinkalu

    By Prof. Chidi Odinkalu

    In November 2017, it emerged that the Governor of Central Bank of Nigeria, Godwin Emefiele, had significant interests in an off-shore company registered in Bermuda, which held an account with the UBS in London. The UBS is a multinational investment bank and financial services company with its headquarters in Basel and Zurich in Switzerland.

    Disclosures released by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists in the Paradise Papers revealed that Emefiele owned 49% of Oviation Asset Management since 2009 and was a director in the company since January 2013.

    According to The Guardian newspaper in London, “Oviation was part of a structure that imported two jets via the Isle of Man. The latest purchase, a $50m Gulfstream G550, arrived in November 2015. It replaced a $33m Gulfstream G450, imported in 2013.”

    Fifteen months before the import of the second Gulfstream, in June 2014, Emefiele became the Governor of the CBN. In this capacity, he also leads The Mint, which prints Nigeria’s currency.

    Section 9 of the CBN Act of 2007 requires of both the Governor of the Central Bank and his deputies that they “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, except such charitable causes as may be determined by the Board and which do not conflict with or conflict with their full-time duties.”

    This prohibition places three constraints on the CBN Governor: one substantive, another procedural, and a third, ethical. Substantively, it bars him from moonlighting in any other job or vocation, whether or not remunerated. Procedurally, he needs the approval of the Board of the CBN before taking on any role outside the bank. Implied in this is an obligation of full and honest disclosure on the part of the CBN Governor. As an (additional) ethical standard, the Act precludes the CBN Governor from putting himself in a position that conflicts with his full-time duties.

    As the head of a “public corporation” (which the CBN is), Emefiele, as the CBN Governor, is also subject to the Code of Conduct for senior public officers contained in the 5th Schedule to the Nigerian constitution, which imposes on him standards of conduct with reference to asset disclosures, acceptance of gifts and donations, and holding of overseas interests.

    For Emefiele, it seems these standards were ornaments of convenience. Three years into his office as the CBN Governor, his interests in Oviation were still intact. Contacted by The Guardian for an explanation in November 2017, Emefiele claimed that he “gave instructions for his shares to be handed back” to his former employers, a Nigerian bank, in 2014. For a central banker, this claim shows either a tendency for the cavalier or habit of casuistry. The former puts his professionalism in question and the latter is a question of character.

    On or about May 4, 2022, Emefiele was a guest of the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), in the Presidency. The following day, some characters claiming to be armed Niger Delta militants endorsed the CBN Governor for the presidential ticket of the ruling All Progressives Congress, promising to lay down their arms if the party were to hand the ticket to him. It is too soon to say whether or not these two developments which appear unrelated have anything to do with what happened next.

    Putting months of speculation and hide-and-seek to rest, it emerged on May 6, 2022 that one Rice Farmers Association of Nigeria and two other shadowy organisations had purchased for Emefiele forms to run for the presidency on the ticket of the APC. His political organisation goes by the brand “#Meffy2023”. The following day, May 7, Emefiele claimed that he was awaiting “God’s Divine intervention” which he hoped to receive “in the next few days”.

    Emefiele has been nothing if not consistent in his convenient attitude to rules. As the CBN Governor, he has maintained a ruinous regime of multiple exchange rates, sustaining a deliberate scheme of profitable arbitrage which is conducive to cronyism at his discretion and insider abuse. The result is this his version of “Farmers Earnestly Yearn for Emefiele”.

    He has got the CBN involved in schemes and scams that almost assuredly violate Section 34 of the CBN Act; from taking over the management of the National Theatre (despite pending litigation) to making himself a willing instrument for the persecution of #EndSARS protesters. Premium Times in a February 21, 2021 editorial fears that his tenure at the CBN will be remembered for having wilfully “shredded” the guardrails in the CBN Act.

    In a country where consequences follow malfeasance, Emefiele will already be in prison. In Nigeria, he longs for the presidency.

    The question whether Emefiele can run for the presidential ticket of a political party while also continuing to serve as the CBN Governor is both moral and legal. Premium Times addressed the former, pointing out that “the operational and administrative autonomy granted the central bank by its enabling statute was precisely to protect the governor from political influence.”

    The governor of Ondo State, himself a Senior Advocate of Nigeria and former president of the Nigerian Bar Association, Rotimi Akeredolu, puts it even more pointedly in a release issued on the same day that Emefiele collected the form to actualise his aspiration: “It is difficult to imagine that a person who occupies the exalted and sensitive office of the Governor of the CBN will be this brazen in actualising his ambition.”

    A partisan politician grubbing for votes while hanging on as the CBN Governor messes with more than the statutory independence of the Bank. It is inconceivable that he can retain independence while seeking the presidency. On the same May 6, on which he collected his presidential forms, “news of Emefiele’s presidential bid sent the Naira close to a record low”, confirming that his is no ordinary ambition.

    But this is, even more, a legal issue. To be sure, Emefiele, as an adult citizen of Nigeria, is entitled to run for any office he desires. Two of his predecessors have preceded him into elective politics. Clement Isong, the second Governor of the CBN from 1967 to 1975, became the first elected governor of old Cross-River State in October 1979. Chukwuma Soludo, who was the CBN Governor from 2004 to 2009, is currently serving as the governor of Anambra State, having been elected on November 6, 2021. Both Dr. Isong and Professor Soludo ran for office after the expiration of their terms.

    Section 9 of the CBN Act makes it quite clear that the CBN Governor just cannot choose to run for elective office while still holding on to office. In any case, he has to first secure the approval of the CBN Board, which is not the case here. He could, of course, choose to resign in order to pursue his ambition. For this, Section 11(3) of the CBN Act requires him to give “at least three months’ notice in writing to the President of his intention to do so.”

    So, Section 9 of the CBN Act precludes Emefiele from political activities and Section 11(3) requires him to give three months’ notice of resignation. As a matter of law, he should have resigned at least three months before the party presidential primary in which he is to be a contestant. The possibility that such a notice from the CBN Governor can be concealed for this long in a political season would require terminal skills in political self-immolation.

    But, as with his holding in an offshore company despite being prohibited from doing so, Emefiele would wish this away as yet another inconsequential encounter with an inconvenient guardrail. The Presidency, however, is ultimately about guardrails. As Lincoln is reported to have said and many more since then have shown, it is a test of character.

    In pursuit of his audacious project, Emefiele has not encountered any guardrails which he has not been willing to destroy. For those who wish to turn over to him the keys to the presidency at this time and in this manner, Governor Akeredolu’s words bear repeating: This is a joke taken too far.

    In the end, it would appear that Emefiele is relaxed about having the fate of his ambition decided by a college of Nigerian judges. He carries on with the cockiness of a man who has assured himself that, as the boss of The Mint, he can issue enough notes to buy any number of judges on his march to whatever he fancies. If he ultimately suffers a bloody nose, it’ll be just desserts for a man who clearly believes everything can be bought and sold.

     

    Prof Odinkalu, lawyer and teacher, can be reached at chidi.odinkalu@tufts.edu