AREWA Says No To Emefiele’s Campaign for Presidency

A pro-democracy and pressure group, Arewa Youth Agenda (AYA), has called on the Central Bank Governor, Godwin Emefiele to desist from using tax payers’ money to fuel his presidential campaign that has engulfed the entire nation for the past three weeks, and concentrate on making the Nigeria economy work and leave politics alone.

In a statement issued in Katsina State, by the Coordinator, Com Dantijo Garba and Publicity Secretary, Comrade Babangida Yusuf respectively, the group faulted the governor for dissipating time, energy and scarce resources at the CBN where he is presently employed to be sponsoring campaigns of presidential aspiration through the back door by using pseudo names called ‘Friends of Emefiele’ to the present the campaign, “Join us in Convincing Ge”.

Nigerians will attest to the fact that for the past three weeks, the country media landscape has been awash by Governor Emefiele’s posters, campaign templates, advertorials, articles, and other huge adverts across the length and breadth of the country allegedly sponsored by him.

According to the group, “Nigerians are shocked by the boldness and audacity of the CBN governor to use tax payers’ money as a full-fledged employee of government and a custodian of tax payers’ money at the CBN in financing his illegal and unacceptable presidential ambition.

“We are also further appalled that Mr. Emefiele even dropped the President’s name, saying that President Muhammadu Buhari “can support whosoever he wants to be president,” and this is against the constitution of the country for a president to be nurturing who takes over from him.”

Condemning Emefiele’s campaign caption: ‘Who is afraid of Emefiele?’ the group said: “We make bold to say and emphasize that it is utterly against the professional ethics across the globe and the Nigerian constitution for a sitting Central Bank Governor to be campaigning for presidential nomination, using tax payers’ money without resigning as stipulated in the electoral law and the constitution of the country.

“We call on Emefiele to stop this and to also inform his so-called friends to desist from heating the polity unnecessarily. The anti-graft agencies should seek for the source of fund of the campaign and stop him immediately.
Accordingly, AYA asserts that Emiefiele “is using taxpayers’ funds to seek for presidential endorsement from the private sector, using proxies “as friends of Emefiele” to perpetrate this illegality, injustice and unlawful act unbecoming of a CBN Chief Executive.

“We urge the Governor of CBN to resign his appointment if he is so interested in the presidency and join the political murky waters instead of testing his popularity while on the CBN’s top seat, using funds meant for development to fund his campaigns.

The group also said they had emphasized for the umpteenth time that Mr. Godwin Emefiele “has a moral burden hanging on his neck few years ago due to the loss of over N500 billion Dubai investment fund transaction that flew with the wind.

Insisting, the group said regrettably: “As we speak, no one from the Central bank has explained the whereabouts of the Dubai fund, whereas officers and executives involved in the transaction had been promoted to other financial institutions in the country as Chief Executives.

“So Nigerians and we (Arewa group) are watching closely the outcome of these shenanigans being perpetrated by a sitting CBN governor.

“It is also pertinent to state that since Emefiele took over the affairs of the apex institution, the Nigerian economy has nosedived and suffered tremendously, as the economy has demystified all known economic laws and theories for rejuvenation.

Regretting the hopelessness of the situation, the group added: “The economy as we speak, had been in shambles and has become one of the worst national economies with high rate of inflation pervading the land and skyrocketing market prices and forces without any foreseeable remedy for the suffering Nigerians.

Asking rhetorically, the group said: “If Emefiele cannot manage the economy where he has professional competence and calling, why does he think he can holistically manage the whole country?”