[dropcap]S[/dropcap]everal Nigerians have kicked against the move by the governor of Central Bank, Godwin Emefiele, to proceed on study leave as it is seen as an alibi to escape prosecution for the massive corruption and intentionally hardship melted on Nigerians through his ill-advised and truncated naira swap policy.
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Recall that despite the hardship he single-handedly foisted on Nigerians by the CBN governor, which drove majority of the citizenry into extreme poverty, respite didn’t come until stories of his plot against president-elect and Lagos State that he released N500 million in new bank notes to shore up the campaign of the Labour Party (LP) in the state surfaced.
This was even after he had continuously disobeyed the apex court of the land that the old N500 and N1000 notes remain legal tender until December 31.
After losing his bid to become a candidate during presidential primary election of the ruling party, All Progressives Congress (APC), he was determined to influence the outcome of the March 18 governorship election in Lagos State.
However, the governor of Zamfara State, Bello Matawalle, has appealed to the outgoing president, Muhammadu Buhari, to refuse his request to proceed on study leave.
“CBN Governor Emefiele superintended over the management of the country’s financial and monetary systems. He is the one who initiated and implemented the recent disastrous Naira swap policy, the Naira confiscation program, which put Nigerians through untold woes and trauma and set our economy backwards.
“Two of my brother-governors and I took the Federal Government to court over this ill-advised policy and fought resolutely until we got a respite for our people from Emefiele and company.
“This same Emefiele now wants to proceed on study leave when he has some 10 months left of his tenure apparently in a bid to evade rendering accounts. This is unacceptable. President Buhari should not countenance this. Emefiele must stay at his job to give full accounts of all that transpired under his watch to the incoming administration. He must answer all the questions the new regime may have for him particularly when he still has some months left of his tenure,” Gov. Bello Matawalle said.
According to a source, Emefiele had hoped that Nigerians would vote against APC and Tinubu through ‘the devilish cash swap policy’ by bringing untold hardship on the electorate.
Kaduna State Governor Nasir El-Rufai had also confirmed that the CBN governor resolved to work against Tinubu because he failed to get the APC presidential ticket.
His “investment” in Rhodes-Vivour was said to be an “emotional last dice” geared towards preserving his shock, being a Lagos resident who has just completed a new home believed to be worth $25 million.
Ojelabi, the publisher of Freelanews, is an award winning and professionally trained mass communicator, who writes ruthlessly about pop culture, religion, politics and entertainment.