Why we can't sanction Emefiele over naira scarcity - APC

The ruling party, the All Progressives Congress (APC) has explained why it couldn't impose appropriate sanctions on the Governor of Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Godwin Emefiele, for his disobedience to Supreme Court order on the controversial cash swap policy.

This was disclosed by the National Publicity Secretary of the APC, Felix Morka, in an interview with The Punch on Tuesday, March 14, 2023.

According to Morka, even though the CBN governor was one of the aspirants who purchased the party's presidential nomination forms, only Presidential Muhammadu Buhari has the exclusive power to hire and fire him.

Recall Emefiele had become public enemy number one since the start of the year following the shoddy implementation of the CBN naira swap and cashless policies.

The Nigerian economy has taken a hit from the effect of the naira scarcity that has crippled activities in the informal sector forcing some Nigerians in desperate need of cash to resort to breaking down bank gates and threatening bank officials.

The development also forced a number of state governments, including three notable APC governors, Nasir El-Rufai, Abdullahi Ganduje, and Bello Matawalle of Kaduna, Kano, and Zamfara states respectively to drag the Federal Government to Supreme Court.

Meanwhile, after the apex court ruled on Friday, March 3, 2023, that the old N200, N500 and N1,000 notes should be allowed to co-exist with the redesigned one until December 31, 2023, the CBN still pussyfooted in heeding the verdict thereby creating another cycle of confusion and uncertainty for Nigerians.

However, the APC Publicity Secretary told The Punch that the party's hands were tied in the matter, insisting that only Buhari could have taken a disciplinary action against Emefiele.

Morka's words: “Emefiele was hired by the president and he serves at the pleasure of the president. So no one person or a group of persons even in the party has the authority to hire and fire the CBN governor. That is the exclusive prerogative of the president.

“The president has its power as constituted by law and under the CBN Act as well. As I earlier said, everything concerning the hiring and firing of the CBN governor rests with the president. The position of the party on that is irrelevant. He makes the decision as he chooses.”

Pulse reports that the President on Monday, March 13, 2023, denied instructing Emefiele and the Attorney General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami, to disobey the Supreme Court Order on the naira redesign policy.