By Kelechi Esogwa-Amadi
The recent suspension of the Central Bank Governor, Godwin Emefiele, by President Bola Tinubu, and his subsequent arrest by the Department of State Security, has been generating mixed reactions. This is expected, given the sensitivity of Emefiele’s position and the complexity surrounding Tinubu’s action.
Many Nigerians see Emefiele’s suspension and arrest as steps in the right direction because of the role he played in the naira redesign policy that subjected them to intense hardship. They are therefore applauding Tinubu for his action, insisting that the suspended CBN governor should be brought to book for what he did.
Some others are criticising Tinubu for focusing on Emefiele alone. According to them, the CBN governor was only a servant taking instructions from his master and should therefore not be punished for carrying out his master’s instructions. They argue that the main culprit responsible for whatever decisions Emefiele may have taken then was his master. As long as they’re concerned, Emefiele’s master, in this case former President Muhammadu Buhari, deserves to face whatever his servant is facing. These Nigerians thus see Tinubu’s action as one-sided.
However, beyond these varying views of Nigerians, some analysts fear there could be more than the eye can see in this whole incident, suggesting that there could be a hidden motive behind Mr Emefiele’s suspension and subsequent arrest.
As intriguing as this suspicion might be, only President Tinubu himself has the moral burden and zest to clear the fog.
But one can’t help recalling the controversy the Central Bank’s naira redesign and swap policy generated and its effect on the campaign activities of electoral candidates as well as the masses who constitute the electorate, especially in terms of mobility and other logistics, during the electioneering period. It appeared the ruling party – the All Progressives Congress – felt it most, as they didn’t mince words in condemning the policy. Tinubu, then the presidential candidate of the APC, was, at a stage, reported as saying that he was the target of the policy, a statement he was later alleged to have debunked.
Moreover, some of the opposition parties then, especially the Peoples Democratic Party and its presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, and their supporters, were also reported as supporting the policy, believing it would check the usual vote-buying that characterises the country’s electoral system. They were happy and optimistic that with the scarcity of the new naira notes and the ban on N200, N500 and N1000 notes (although Buhari later lifted the ban on N200), the APC and Tinubu – being the party and candidate to beat – won’t afford to buy votes. Whether they were later proved right or wrong is yet to be proved and is not the objective of this piece.
Nevertheless, rumours that later emerged of some politicians spending dollars during the election period were attributed by some to the scarcity of the naira caused by the CBN’s redesign and swap policy.
Emefiele’s suspension on Friday, 9th June, 2023, and subsequent arrest, did not therefore come to many as a surprise, as they believe it will not be unconnected with the role he played in the controversial new naira policy. But whether the action is specifically meant to punish or disgrace him for that role remains to be deciphered. The Tinubu government must have anticipated this vendetta suspicion coming. To pre-empt it, they wisely issued a statement explaining the rationale behind the suspension of Emefiele.
The statement, issued by William Bassey, Director of Information at the office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, SGF, George Akume, partly reads:
“President Bola Tinubu has suspended the Central Bank Governor, Godwin Emefiele, from office with immediate effect.
“This is sequel to the ongoing investigation of his office and the planned reforms in the financial sector of the economy.
“Emefiele has been directed to immediately hand over the affairs of his office to the Deputy Governor (Operations Directorate), who will act as the Central Bank Governor pending the conclusion of the investigation and the reforms.”
The statement notwithstanding, the vendetta suspicion seems to persist, fuelled further by Emefiele’s arrest by the DSS.
Some Nigerians are not convinced that DSS’ involvement in the matter is necessary. They argue that the EFCC should have been the appropriate agency to be involved. These Nigerians are not wrong, given that investigation of issues pertaining to financial mismanagement, misapplication, corruption or criminality fall within the statutory functions of the EFCC (Economic and Financial Crimes Commission). Eminent human rights lawyer, Femi Falana, also toes this line of argument. In a recent statement on the incident, Falana asked the DSS to transfer the CBN governor to the custody of EFCC.
Another stroke of criticism trailing Tinubu’s suspension of Emefiele as CBN governor is that it is a misplaced priority, given other more pressing needs and sensitive issues needing urgent attention of the federal government, such as the petrol subsidy removal controversy, the yet-to-be-accounted subsidy budget for which SERAP has now sued Tinubu, the sudden resurgence of killings by bandits, the poor conduct of the 2023 general elections and its attendant controversy for which cases are still ongoing at the election petition tribunal, among others.
Championing this criticism are the opposition political parties led by the Labour Party which is asking President Tinubu to investigate the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) over the way it conducted the just concluded general elections, rather than the CBN.
Perhaps to Labour Party, which insists that its presidential candidate, Peter Obi, won the presidential election of February 25, 2023, investigating INEC and its chairman first before beaming search light on the CBN and its governor will better convince Nigerians of Tinubu’s sincerity to sanitise and reform the nation’s polity badly marred by a poor, highly compromised electoral system. Therefore, as long as the Labour Party and other students of this school of thought are concerned, Tinubu’s clampdown on Emefiele is a misplaced priority.
While Emefiele’s travails continue to elicit mixed reactions, the moral onus imperatively lies on President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to prove to Nigerians and the international community that the suspension, arrest and ongoing investigation of the CBN governor is neither a misplaced priority nor a vaulting vendetta.
