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From Okwe Obi, Abuja
Over 1,000 civil society organisations under the auspices of Coalition of Civil Society Groups (CCSGs), yesterday, described as fake news the presidential ambition of the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Godwin Emefiele.
Its President, Bassey Etuk Williams, and Secretary General, Abubakar Ibrahim, in a statement, however, noted that the group would support Emefiele should he decide to join the presidential race.
William said: “We wish to state here that we are not in the business of dignifying wild and wishful statements that only have a basis in the realm speculation, but it is important to set the records straight in the interest of defending the interest of an important national institution from the potent danger posed by the spread fake news.
“Indeed fake news is a threat all over the world and it is on this basis that we are putting out this unequivocal statement, as a nonpartisan and nongovernment organisation that has a clear mandate to ensure accountability of public institutions to the citizens.
“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.”
Also the North-South Economists’ Forum (NSEF), a focus group of development economists, has warned propagandists and information hawkers feasting on a phoney ‘Emefiele for President’ campaign not to drag the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, governor into the murky water of partisan politics.
Recently, some online news platforms flew a kite purporting that a group of top private sector players and some sitting governors were working on a script to install Mr. Godwin Emefiele as the next Nigerian president in the 2023 presidential election. The report claimed that Emefiele may likely resign his appointment as CBN governor this month to throw his hat into the presidential ring.
The forum said having done its independent investigation and consultations among highly placed Nigerian entrepreneurs some of whom were said to be among those promoting the Emefiele for President movement, it has discovered that the story was false in its entirety.
The group in a statement yesterday by its Chairman, Malam Ahmed Abdulkadir and Secretary, Dr. Chima Eboh, said: “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.”
