From Uche Usim, Abuja
Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Governor, Mr Godwin Emefiele, on Monday, debunked a report in a national newspaper, which alluded to the fact that the apex bank has dolled out money to the Labour Party Gubernatorial candidate for Lagos State, Gbadebo Rhodes-Vivour, to catalyse his victory at the polls holding on March 18.
Emefiele, who spoke through the CBN Acting Director, Corporate Communications Department, Dr Isa Abdulmumin, described the report as a tissue of lies, as he does not know and has never met or even spoken with Mr. Gbadebo Rhodes-Vivour, either in person or through a proxy.
The statement by Dr Abdulmumin added that the CBN Governor does not take part in politics and therefore urged anyone with contrary information to prove the Governor wrong by providing any facts.
While urging the public to disregard the report in its entirety, Abdulmumin stressed that the CBN Governor and his team should be allowed to focus on their assigned jobs with a view to achieving the statutory mandate of the Bank.
The statement read in part: “The attention of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has been drawn to a story published in The Nation newspaper of Monday, March 13, 2023 edition, alleging that the Governor, Mr. Godwin Emefiele has launched a “fresh plot against President-elect”.
“The aforementioned story went further to allege that the Governor has made a certain amount of money available to a candidate
ahead of the March 18, 2023, gubernatorial poll.
We wish to inform members of the public that this story is completely false and malicious as the CBN Governor does not know and has never met or even spoken with Mr. Gbadebo Rhodes-Vivour, either in person or through a proxy”.