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- Says Emefiele’s naira redesign cripples banditry in North
From Sola Ojo, Kaduna
The leadership of the Arewa Youth Assembly on Tuesday cautioned President-elect, Bola Tinubu, to be careful with ill-comment from politicians like the outgoing Governor of Zamfara State, Bello Matawalle.
The group was reacting to a statement allegedly credited to Matawalle wherein he warned the government not to allow the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Mr Godwin Emefiele, to embark on a ‘study leave’ on the ground that he wanted to use the opportunity to go on political exile.
The group in a statement by its Publicity Secretary, Alh. Aliyu Sani quoted Matawalle in a statement as saying “if the leave has been approved, as reported in the media, the President should cancel it in the interest of peaceful transfer of power, accountability, and good governance”
The group said it found such a statement embarrassing that a sitting governor will allow himself to be swayed into believing and acting on a baseless rumour, concocted from the pit of hell, that Mr Godwin Emefiele has been granted study leave to flee from the country before Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu is sworn in.
The Group further expressed concern that despite the dismissal of the allegation by the Presidency, Mr Governor believed the content of an online media platform to develop his statement.
“The Office of the President, through one of its Spokespersons, Mallam Garba Shehu while reacting to the trending news noted that, “if the governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Godwin Emefiele, has been granted study leave supposedly by President Muhammadu Buhari, this is unknown to us. It is also unknown to the president’s secretariat headed by the Chief of Staff”
“Instead of him being afraid of his fate when he leaves office, he is more concerned about the destiny of Mr Emefiele who is serving Nigerians diligently,” the group said.
To this group, the Zamfara’s Governor attack on the apex bank governor may not be unconnected to the recent naira redesign which it said has reduced the kidnapping for ransom by bandits terrorising the Northwest region.
“We wish to challenge Matawalle to make public the number of persons kidnapped in Zamfara State when the naira was not in excessive circulation and the reintroduction of the naira following his pyrrhic victory in Court that forced the CBN to recirculate naira notes.
“Even if there were requests for study leave, it is legal. The Public Service Rules make ample provision for the training and development of Civil Servants, to enhance the officer’s performance, adding value to the Service, and encourage professionalism in the dispatch of their duties (PSR 100223, PSR 100224, PSR 100225, PSR 100226)
“Study leaves are approved to allow an employee to complete an accredited course of study provided by an overseas educational institution. Study leaves are legal and have been granted before in Nigeria and even in superpower countries of the world. An individual has the right to seek study leave in any part of the world.
“We wish to call on Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu to note that, the North voted for him when the sound of gunshots from bandits went silent as a result of the naira redesigned Policy introduced by the CBN.
“Insecurity is the reason why our people rejected the PDP, we saw a workable solution to our number one problem. If he chose to rally obvious failures like Matawalle around him, we will sadly accept that he has failed before his inauguration and nothing good will be expected from his tenure.”
