From Charity Nwakaudu, Abuja
The Conference of Nigeria Political Parties (CNPP) and allied civil society groups under the umbrella body, Coalition Of National Civil Society Organisations (CNCSOs), have called for the immediate sack of the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Mr Godwin Emefiele, adding that his continuous stay, would worsen the economy of the country.
The Secretary-General of CNPP, Chief Willy Ezugwu, and the National Secretary of the Coalition Of National Civil Society Organisations, Ali Abacha, made this call at a joint press conference held in Abuja, on Tuesday.
They stressed that it is against Section 9 of the CBN Act 2007 for a sitting governor and deputy to engage in partisan politics or any other form of employment due to the nature of their office.
They demanded an investigation of electoral materials that have been kept under the custody of the CBN, from 2019 when the governor joined partisan politics were in any way compromised.
“We condemn in totality the legal action instituted by Godwin Emefiele, asking the Federal High Court sitting in Abuja to restrain the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and the Attorney General of the Federation (AGF) from disqualifying him from contesting the 2023 presidential election.
“We warn that Nigeria’s economic woes will worsen if Mr Godwin Emefiele continues to formulate and supervise the execution of Nigeria’s monetary policies as an APC member against international best practices and standards which forbids a CBN Governor from being a member of a political party.
“We commend INEC for disclosing that the commission would take action concerning sensitive materials which were being kept in the custody of CBN during elections in view of the full-blown partisanship of the CBN governor. With this move by INEC, we believe that the incumbent INEC Chairman can be trusted to conduct a free, fair credible elections in 2023.
“We call on all security agencies, including the EFCC and ICPC to investigate the CBN governor’s sources of funding for the alleged branded vehicles in the colour of APC and with him name and image of Emefiele on them. Such vehicles must be located and impounded pending the conclusion of the investigation. In the same vein, all the groups that claimed to have purchased nomination forms for the CBN Governor should be investigated to restore the confidence of Nigerians in the Buhari administration as a government up against corruption and official misconduct.
“We equally demand an investigation into whether electoral materials kept at the CBN by INEC since 2019 when Emefiele joined partisan politics were in any way compromised.