Nigeria’s president, Bola Ahmed Tinubu has suspended Godwin Emefiele as governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria.
In a statement signed by Willie Bassey, a director of information at the office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Mr. Emefiele’s suspension was “sequel to the ongoing investigation of his office and the planned reforms in the financial sector of the economy.”
Mr. Emefiele was directed to hand over the affairs of his office to the deputy-governor, operations directorate, Mr. Folashodun Adebisi Shonubi, with immediate effect.
Mr. Emefiele drew the ire of Mr. Tinubu and the ruling APC in the run up to the 2023 presidential elections when he introduced the controversial naira redesign policy. The move was largely regarded as an attempt to subvert the chances of the ruling APC, whose candidate (Mr. Tinubu) went ahead to win the election.
Mr. Tinubu criticised the policy during campaigns. He also took a jibe at its implementation in his inaugural address, promising to reconsider the policy. Mr. Emefiele was first appointed by President Jonathan in 2014, and reappointed by President Buhari in 2019 for another term of 5 years.
