The North-South Economists’ Forum (NSEF) has warned propagandists to desist from distracting the governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Godwin Emefiele with the inclusion of his name in the 2023 presidential race.
Some online news platforms (not Qed.ng) recently said a group of top private sector players and some governors were working to make Emefiele the next Nigerian president. The report claimed that Emefiele may likely resign his appointment as CBN governor this month to join the presidential race, an allegation which the CBN refuted.
However, the NSEF, a focus group of development economists, said having done its independent investigation it discovered that the reports were falsified.
The forum in a statement on Wednesday signed by its chairman, Ahmed Abdulkadir and secretary, Chima Eboh, noted that “what was perceived to be a political meeting promoting Emefiele Presidential ambition was actually a meeting of governors, ex-governors, non-political actors, business people with proven economic management background, civil society organisations and the media, whose sole aim was to forge a new pathway for the growth and development of the nation.”
“Emefiele was not on the agenda neither was he singled out for discussion at the meeting,” the statement added.
The economists urged the CBN governor to stay focused on his economic reengineering of the nation’s monetary policy framework to engender financial stability especially at these times when the nation is facing economic challenges.
“Dragging Emefiele into politics is a show of aberrant mental indolence which does not advertise the propagandists as intelligent or persons given to critical thinking. As a body of Economists with strong bias for development, we consider it an effusion of ingratitude to ever imagine or conjecture that CBN under Emefiele is favouring one political party over another. That is the height of unreason,” the statement said.
