Emefiele continues to identify as CBN Governor on X despite resignation

Former Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Godwin Emefiele still describes himself as the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria even after his resignation.

As of Monday, September 25, 2023, the header of his X handle still reads, “Official account of the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria.”

Emefiele was appointed as the Governor of the apex bank in 2014 and was retained when former President, Muhammadu Buhari came to power in 2015.

A screenshot of Godwin Emefiele's X header on Monday, September 25, 2023. Pulse Nigeria

In 2019, Buhari nominated him for a second term.

However, shortly after the expiration of Buhari’s administration, the new President, Bola Ahmed Tinubu suspended Emefiele and ordered him to immediately hand over the affairs of his office to the Deputy Governor (Operations Directorate).

According to a statement by Willie Bassey, the Director of Information at the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, the suspension of the former Managing Director of Zenith Bank was due to the ongoing investigation of his office and the planned reforms in the economy’s financial sector.

Three months after suspending Emefiele, President Tinubu nominated his longtime ally, Yemi Cardoso, as the new substantive governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), pending the confirmation of the Senate.

On Friday, September 22, 2022, Cardoso assumed duty as acting Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria.

In an official statement announcing his assumption of office, the CBN said, Cardoso assumed duty in acting capacities following the resignation of Emefiele, who has been in the custody of the Department of State Services (DSS) since his suspension in June.

The former CBN governor was reported to have resigned long before the apex bank announced his resignation.

According to Reuters, Emefiele tendered his resignation letter to President Tinubu in August.

However, while Emefiele with over 54,000 followers still maintains the CBN Governorship title on his verified X page, Cardoso, the acting CBN Governor, has yet to update his X page.

Cardoso, who has 1,076 followers — as of the time of writing this report- described himself as a “Financial Sector and Development Policy Leader and Former Chairman Citibank Nigeria.”