Rita Odafe
On Tuesday, the All Progressives Congress (APC) revealed why it could not sanction the Governor of Central Bank of Nigeria, Godwin Emefiele, despite the CBN’s defiance of the Supreme Court verdict on the controversial cash swap policy. The scarcity of new naira notes caused by the policy had caused tension and hardship for the public. This led to several states, including three APC governors, filing a suit against Emefiele and President Muhammadu Buhari at the Supreme Court. The Court ruled that old notes should be allowed to co-exist with new ones until December 31, and that the President’s directive on the redesign of the new notes was invalid.
In an exclusive interview with The PUNCH, APC National Publicity Secretary Felix Morka explained that as Emefiele was one of the party aspirants who bought presidential nomination forms, the decision to hire or fire him rests with the President. He said that everything concerning the hiring and firing of the CBN governor rests with the President and that the party’s position is irrelevant.
President Buhari has denied instructing Emefiele and Attorney General Abubakar Malami to defy the Supreme Court Order on the naira redesign policy. He said that the apex bank has no reason not to comply with court orders on the excuse of waiting for directives.
