Tinubu Suspends Emefiele As CBN Governor

• Emefiele was suspended after an investigation of his office.

• His position had long been threatened since the emergence of Tinubu as president.

• During the campaign season, he was accused of orchestrating cash scarcity to hurt the president’s chances in the upcoming election.

Eko Hot Blog reports that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has suspended the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Mr Godwin Emefiele, CFR, from office with “immediate effect.”

Willie Bassey, the Director of Information in the office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF) announced the suspension on behalf of SGF George Akume in a statement on Friday.

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Akume stated that the president made the decision following an ongoing investigation of Emefiele’s office.

He added that the suspended CBN chief has been directed to hand over to the apex bank’s Deputy Governor (Operations Directorate).

“This is sequel to the ongoing investigation of his office and the planned reforms in the financial sector of the economy,” the statement reads in part.

“Mr Emefiele has been directed to immediately hand over the affairs of his office to the Deputy Governor (Operations Directorate), who will act as the Central Bank Governor pending the conclusion of investigation and the reforms.”

Emefiele’s suspension comes months after he implemented a controversial and disastrous cash swap policy.

The policy triggered a cash scarcity that hindered the ability of many Nigerians to easily conduct business.

The cash scarcity came in the buildup to the February 25 presidential election.

Some members of the All Progressives Congress (APC) accused the CBN governor of orchestrating the cash swap policy to hurt then-candidate Tinubu.

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The president’s decision to suspend Emefiele will not surprise many observers after he criticised the CBN chief’s actions as a presidential candidate.

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