By Adedapo Adesanya
President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has suspended the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Mr Godwin Emefiele, from office with immediate effect.
This was disclosed in a press statement from Mr Willie Bassey, the Director of Information for Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Mr George Akume, on Friday night.
It was disclosed that the suspension of Mr Emefiele followed an ongoing investigation of his office and the planned reforms in the financial sector of the economy.
Mr Emefiele has been directed to immediately hand over the affairs of his office to the Deputy Governor in charge of the Operations Directorate at the apex bank Mr Folashodun Shonubi, who will act as the central bank Governor pending the conclusion of the probe and the reforms.
This marks an end to his stay in the office. He was appointed the CBN chief by former President, Mr Goodluck Jonathan, in 2014 and remained in office all through the eight-year tenure of the immediate past President, Mr Muhammadu Buhari, which ended last month.
President Tinubu had, during his inauguration, castigated the apex bank for how it handled its monetary policies and also promised to unify the multiple foreign regimes in the country as well as lower interest rates.
“President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has suspended the Central Bank Governor, Mr Godwin Emefiele, from office with immediate effect.
“This is sequel to the ongoing investigation of his office and the planned reforms in the financial sector of the economy.
“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 the investigation and the reforms,” the statement said.
Recall that Mr Emefiele’s predecessor, Mr Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, was suspended by Mr Jonathan after he fell out with him over his alarm on alleged missing funds.
Modupe Gbadeyanka