President Tinubu Suspends Emefiele As CBN Governor

The Central Bank Governor, Mr. Godwin Emefiele, CFR, has been suspended from office by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu with immediate effect. This was announced by the Director of Information, Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Willie Bassey, in a statement released on Friday.

The text discusses a follow-up to an investigation of a particular office and the proposed changes to the financial sector.

The Central Bank Governor, Mr. Emefiele, has been instructed to hand over his duties to the Deputy Governor (Operations Directorate), Folashodun Adebisi Shonubi. Shonubi will act as the Central Bank Governor while an investigation is conducted and reforms are made.

The development occurred within two weeks of President Tinubu’s inauguration and after the CBN’s criticized naira swap, which took months.

The Nigerian government, under the leadership of former President Muhammadu Buhari, released new bank notes in late 2020. The government’s reasoning behind this decision was to combat issues such as vote-buying, insecurity, and inflation.

The country experienced a cash crunch weeks before the polls due to the withdrawal of old notes by the CBN. Top personalities criticized the development.

Tinubu faulted the implementation of a policy that some state governors took to court.

Tinubu requested that the CBN permit the coexistence of old and new notes during his time as the APC’s presidential candidate.

Tinubu expressed his concern about the disruptive implementation of a policy that has made it difficult for people to access their hard-earned money, causing hardship and consequences for the informal sector where the majority operate.

During the presidential election, his campaign team alleged that Tinubu was the intended target of the move.

President Tinubu promised to review the naira swap policy during his inauguration.

The person argued that the CBN’s application of the policy was too harsh considering the high number of Nigerians who do not have bank accounts.

Policy review is required. The administration will consider both currencies as legal tender for now.