Constitutional Lawyers under the leadership of Yusuf Ahmed Tijani, on Monday, rose in defence of the immediate-past Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Dr Godwin Emefiele, over growing allegations that he mismanaged the nation’s economy during his tenure as the number one banker.
The lawyers, in a statement made available to journalists in Abuja, said such claims that have no verified fact to back them were only ways of calling a dog a bad name in order to hang it.
The lawyers also condemned Senate President, Godwill Akpabio, over what they called his baseless attack on Emefiele, describing it as a childish attempt to keep being an errand boy desperate to save his head from a pending EFCC case.
They said Akpabio was the one supposed to be arrested and prosecuted for his pending numerous criminal cases and not Emefiele, who worked to stabilise the nation’s currency during his reign as CBN governor.
The lawyers claimed that it was looting by the likes of Akpabio that was killing the economy and called on the Senate President to surrender himself to EFCC immediately.
They argued that all the reform programmes introduced by Emefiele during his tenure as CBN governor positioned the country on a sure footing economically.
The lawyers said for all the things that have been seen to have gone wrong after he left office, his successor, Olayemi Cardoso, and his management team should be held responsible.
The statement read, “It is clear to even the blind that the tenure of Godwin Emefiele attracted huge economic progress to the country.
“Immediately after he left office, things started changing and now, Nigerians are experiencing the worst economic hardship in the history of the country.
“Let us take the forex crisis as a clear example. Dr Emefiele managed the exchange rate correctly when he was in office.
“Under his leadership in the apex back, the exchange rate at the parallel market was N750.
“Immediately he was removed from office, things changed. Today, exchange rate at the parallel market is almost N1,700.
“The situation was badly managed to the point that dollar has dried up in the economy currently being managed by the clueless new CBN new leadership.
“How then can they prove that Dr Emefiele mismanaged the economy that they inherited?
“It is clear that these overrated people lack idea to manage the economy and to shield themselves, they needed to shift blame, no matter how unreasonable their claims sound in the ears of right-thinking persons.
“Our advice is that they should stop the blame game, fold up their sleeves and begin to work to recover the economy’s lost glory. If they need help, they should not hesitate to ask.”
