•Says his fate in hands of CBN’s board of directors

PresidentMuhammadu Buhari has reacted for the first time to Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Godwin Emefiele’s presidential ambition, saying his fate would be determined by the apex bank’s board of directors on whether his actions have fallen foul of the laws.

Clamour for Emefiele’s resignation had mounted when news broke that N100 million presidential nomination and expression of interest form of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) party had been procured for him.

A Nigerian court sitting in Abuja had dismissed his request to not be prevented from contesting for the presidential ticket of any political party in the February 2023 elections.

The suit was seeking to restrain the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and the country’s attorney general from disqualifying him from pursuing his presidential ambition.

In an interview with Bloomberg, asked if he he was concerned about the debate around the central bank’s independence following Emefiele’s interest in running for president, Buhari replied: “The CBN governor is appointed by the president. But this appointment is subject to confirmation by the Senate. Ultimately, it will be for the CBN’s board of directors to determine whether theCBN governor’s actions have fallen foul of the laws in place to ensure he can most effectively carry out his duties.”

The President spokeon the performane of CBN Governor“but there is a subtext to the accusations. Because the governor follows a model outside of the economic orthodoxy, he is labelled political. But the orthodoxy has proved wrong time and again. Instead, the governor is following an alternative economic model that puts people at the heart of policy. Nigeria should be free to choose its development model and how to construct our economy, so it functions for Nigerians.” (Excerpted from a Dail Sun report)