President Bola Tinubu and his loyalists had objected to the decision of former President Muhammadu Buhari’s government to introduce new bank notes close to the period of elections, despite arguments that it would help tackle vote-buying, insecurity and inflation.
By Deborah Hassan
365Daily – President Bola Tinubu has suspended Godwin Emefiele as the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).
This was disclosed by the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation in a statement signned by the Director of Information, Mr Willle Bassey, on Friday.
“President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has suspended the Central Bank Governor, Mr Godwin Emefiele, CFR, from office with immediate effect,” the statement read, adding that “this is a sequel to the ongoing investigation of his office and the planned reforms in the financial sector of the economy.”
It further said “Mr Emefiele has been directed to immediately hand over the affairs of his office to the Deputy Governor (Operations Directorate), Folashodun Adebisi Shonubi, who will act as the Central Bank Governor pending the conclusion of the investigation and the reforms.”
President Bola Tinubu and his loyalists had objected to the decision of former President Muhammadu Buhari’s government to introduce new bank notes close to the period of elections, despite arguments that it would help tackle vote-buying, insecurity and inflation.
Frustrated by the policy, some state governors approached the court to halt the implementation of the policy or allow both old and new notes to coexist.
Tinubu himself said then that he was “only concerned about its disruptive implementation and the hardship it has brought on the generality of our people who currently can’t access their hard-earned money to meet obligations and the attendant consequences on the informal sector, where the majority operate.”
He also vowed to review it during his inauguration as president on May 29.
“The policy shall be reviewed. In the meantime, my administration will treat both currencies as legal tender,” he stated.