The judgement by a lot of critical minds in Nigeria that the Governor of the country’s apex bank, Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Mr Godwin Emefiele, is attitudinally more like a political gladiator than a technocrat whose responsibilities are therefore mainly about the formulation and implementation of the monetary and fiscal policies of the federal government has been widely considered to be a sound one. He is almost always a reason for one kind of disagreement or another among Nigerians, which has necessitated the conclusion that the man is most easily given to controversy.
Even if he had not intended to be so, by aspiring to clinch the presidential ticket of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), Emefiele has acquired the necessary qualification to become a politician. No CBN Governor would make such a move and still be considered just a public servant or technocrat.
It is not just because he is consistently in the news, but mainly because he is in the news for arguably the wrong reasons that Emefiele has become a different kind of CBN Governor. The nature of the majority of the reports on his personality and actions is such that has abundantly portrayed him as a person whose level of sensitivity to even the weightiest of issues is so low that he often ignores their implications for the credibility and operations of the CBN.
Although, certainly, he is not the sole cause of all the controversies surrounding his personality and official conduct, most of the interpretations of both by a lot of individuals and groups have fully indicated a conclusion that he is far less cautious than he should be even in the course of discharging his duties. The numerous complaints that certain aspects of his approach to the execution of the mandate of the CBN have so far generated are a clear proof that his style is yet to make reasonable meaning to a lot of Nigerians.
Emefiele is a public officer against whom, at various times, President Muhammadu Buhari whose confidence he is apparently enjoying now, Federal Ministry of Finance, National Assembly, Directorate of State Services (DSS) as well as some Civil Society Organisations and pressure groups have openly complained. The indictment by the president over money withdrawal, complaint over lack of consultation on the Naira redesign which was made by the Minister of Finance—Mrs Zainab Shamsuna Ahmed, harsh reaction of the Federal House of Representatives to his failure to honour its invitation and the public outcry over the control of cash withdrawals are clear manifestations of a disapproval against his style.
The speculation about an attempt by the DSS to arrest him has done more damage to Emefiele and the position he currently occupies. Even with the strong denial of the recent report on the DSS personnel’s invasion of the CBN by the agency in a bid to arrest him, the disturbing controversy continues.
Meanwhile, a lot of Nigerians who either share professional background with Emefiele or are just concerned about the integrity of public service clearly and justifiably worry about all the real and imagined effects of the ugly trend on their profession and public service sector. The numerous negative stories about the CBN Governor, particularly the allegation that he is a sponsor of terrorism, have already unsettled an unimaginably large number of people.
Moreover, a member representing Roni/Guiwa/Yankwashi/Kazaure federal constituency in Jigawa State, Honourable Mohammed Gudaji Kazaure, is a politician whose allegations against Emefiele have been particularly weighty. The lawmaker’s insistence that 89 trillion Naira was collected snd domiciled in the CBN as stamp duty charges but which has been or is still being misappropriated has made matters worst for him.
The dismissal of the lawmaker, in certain quarters, as just an irritant who has only nuisance value and should therefore be completely ignored has failed to be of any help to the embattled CBN Governor. So also the presidency’s denial of Kazaure’s claim and allegation that he served as a secretary of a committee set up by President Buhari to investigate the state of certain monies in the CBN but was denied access to the president by some people who are involved in the fraud and their friends in order to avert the submission of the committee’s report.
Perhaps, the resumption to work last Monday, 16th January 2023, by the CBN Governor, after a long vacation has re-enforced the impression that he is on top of the situation. The assurance, as contained in a statement by the bank’s Director of Corporate Communications, Mr Osita Nwanibosi, that Emefiele is back in office “with a renewed vigour to perform his duties ahead of the first Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting of the year, “ is somehow suggestive of a calmness and determination, on the part of Emefiele, to continue to serve the country.
Still, even with this development, the attacks on him have not subsided, which is an indication of the resolve of his critics to carry the battle to the end. As he struggles to defend himself or even fight back, the CBN Governor is also required to ensure that what remains of the credibility and image of the institution under his control is not lost.
It is definitely not in the interest of, most importantly, the country that the CBN Governor is a subject of controversy because of either his personal disposition to issues of national importance or approach to his work. If a public officer like him who is undoubtedly one of the drivers and therefore faces of the economic policies of the federal government can be so enmeshed in a huge crisis such as the prevailing one, then the country is really in trouble.
Nigeria can only be satisfactorily salvaged if public officers like the Governor of the CBN adequately abide by the established code of conduct. Sanity in the operations of sensitive and vital institutions and agencies of government is achievable only if the formulators and implementers of government policies discard the tendency for the violation of rules and regulations in the course of discharging their responsibilities.
Nothing can be a worst disservice to the country than the indulgence of public officers who are duly expected to utilize their highly-valued expertise for service delivery in acts that are, in one or another, criminal. A public officer that turns himself into a political gladiator in the very manner that CBN Governor, Mr Godwin Emefiele, has done needs to have a re-think.
