Buhari Justifies Emefiele’s ‘Unorthodox Policies,’ Defends Decision not to Sack CBN Boss over Politics

President Muhammadu Buhari has stated his reasons for not relieving Godwin Emefiele of his position as the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) even after he was alleged to be flirting with partisan politics while heading the apex bank.

In his interview with Bloomberg on Tuesday, President Buhari reminded Nigerians that by law, the CBN governor is appointed by the President, but this appointment is subject to confirmation by the Nigerian Senate.

“Ultimately, it will be for the CBN’s board of directors to determine whether a CBN governor’s actions have fallen foul of the laws in place to ensure he can most effectively carry out his duties,” the President said.

The CBN Governor came under fire in May after a group procured the N100 million presidential expression of interest and nomination forms of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) for him to contest for the highest office in the land.

While some Nigerians asked him to resign or be sacked for an unethical involvement in politics, he went to court to seek the affirmation of his right to remain in office and pursue his presidential ambition.

The court case, couple with the fact that his presidential campaign posters had been all over the country for months without any statement of denial from Emefiele, intensified the call for his removal from office.

Explaining why he rebuffed all efforts to get Emefiele fired, President Buhari told Bloomberg that there was a subtext to the accusations.

“Because the governor follows a model outside of the economic orthodoxy, he is labelled political. But the orthodoxy has proved wrong time and again. Instead, the governor is following an alternative economic model that puts people at the heart of policy. Nigeria should be free to choose its development model and how to construct our economy, so it functions for Nigerians.”