Civil Society Organisations under the auspices of Coalition of Civil Society Groups (CCSGs) on Wednesday rose in defence of the Governor of Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Mr Godwin Emefiele, describing as fake news reports making the rounds over alleged presidential ambition.
The groups hinted that over 10,000 civil society groups across the federation would declare support for Mr Emefiele should he decide to run for president in 2023, noting that the group consider him as fit and most qualified for the top office.
The group, in a statement jointly signed by the President, CCSGs, Bassey Etuk Williams, and Secretary-General, Abubakar Ibrahim, described as false, baseless and downright malicious a statement credited to a faceless group on the person and office of Mr Emefiele.
While applauding the achievements of the CBN under Emefiele in the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMWs), the small farm holders, the groups also noted his effort towards assisting industries to meet up with international standards in the quality of goods produced for export.
It stressed that many Nigerians have benefitted from wonderful policies of the CBN such as the Youth Entrepreneurship Development Programme (YEDP), Accelerated Agricultural Development Scheme (AADS), the Agri-business/Small and Medium Enterprises Investment Scheme (AGSMEIS).
It said the policies have impacted positively in the lives of many Nigerians, saying that jobs have been created and millions of Nigerians are happy and grateful.
The statement reads in part, “If the sponsors of the group understood the meaning of fair play, they would have realized that all Nigerians of the prescribed age and without any other constitutional limitations can aspire to become president.
“While we are not in any position to comment on the desires of the CBN governor to run for any office in Nigeria, as we are not his spokespeople, we wish to state unequivocally that it is his legitimate right to aspire to run for any office just like any other Nigerian citizen by following the constitutionally prescribed route to such office.
“The Nigerian people are unaware of any announcement by Mr Godwin Emefiele to the effect that he is running for the office of president of Nigeria and it is not only unfair to him but also to over 200million Nigerians to try to keep any qualified citizen from running for office.
“It is unacceptable to employ blackmail as a tactic to keep qualified Nigerians out of the race to lead their own country: and there can be no legal or moral question that Mr Godwin Emefiele meets fits the bill of being qualified, even if his choice of entering the race is a personal one.
“To have referred to a leading member of staff and former Managing Director of Nigeria’s biggest bank by assets, as a ‘failed banker’ betrays both a lack of understanding of simple facts and an overwhelmingly high amount of bile against progress and development for personal gain.”
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