President Bola Tinubu is set to withdraw his nomination of Dr Ruby Onwudiwe as a member of the board of Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Presidency sources have revealed.
A report by Western Post linked the withdrawal to Dr Onwudiwe’s open support for Peter Obi, the Labour Party (LP) candidate in the 2023 presidential election.
A source in the Presidency also told QEDNG on Thursday that President Tinubu will withdraw the nomination following protest by supporters of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).
Tinubu had in a letter read by Senate President Godswill Akpabio during plenary on Wednesday requested Onwudiwe’s confirmation as representative of the southeast on the CBN board.
She was named as replacement for former southeast nominee Kalu Eke who declined his nomination over conflict of interests.
“The Senate is advised to kindly note that Ruby Onwudiwe is a replacement of Mr Urum Kalu Eke due to the unavailability of Mr Eke to serve in that position.
“While it is my hope, therefore, that the senate will screen and confirm in its usual expeditious manner, the appointment of Ruby Onwudiwe PhD, please, accept distinguished senate president and distinguish senators of my highest regards,” Tinubu said in the letter read by Senator Akpabio.
Onwudiwe’s nomination was, however, objected to by APC members who shared screenshots of some of her social media posts during the 2023 presidential election.
One of the posts is the result from her polling unit in Lekki, Lagos where Mr Obi defeated Tinubu in what she described as “landslide victory”.
Objections to Onwudiwe’s nomination were conveyed to Tinubu on Wednesday night by Senate Majority Leader Opeyemi Bamidele and chairman of the Senate Appropriation Committee Olamilekan Adeola.
The president subsequently requested that the nomination be stepped down with a new nominee from the southeast expected to be presented to the Senate for confirmation.
