Zamfara State Governor,Bello Matawalle has asked President Muhammadu Buhari not to approve leave for whatever reason for Godwin Emefiele, the Governor of Central Bank( CBN) and other officers critical to the smooth take-off of the Bola Tinubu’s administration on May 29.
The development comes amid speculation that the CBN governor may have approached the president for a study leave permit to enable him leave the country before the inauguration of the new president .
Emefiele, as head of the CBN introduced to Nigerians, a Naira Redesign Policy which was launched by Buhari on November 23,2023.
The draconic and ill-advised policy crashed the hopes of Nigerians who yearned for better times as scarcity of the new and old naira notes enthroned an era of frustration on Nigerians, failures and foolhardiness by the Federal Government and the CBN.
The Zamfara outgoing governor, while praising the President and his wife for initiating and undertaking a seamless transition to the president-elect Bola Tinubu,however expressed worry over the behaviour of some officers who have a lot to do in the mainstreaming of the incoming administration.
Top on the list he said,is the CBN governor who he insisted must remain behind to account for his role in the obnoxious monetary policies.
Matawalle said
.“He is the one who initiated and implemented the recent disastrous Naira swap policy, the Naira confiscation program, which put Nigerians through untold woes and trauma and set our economy backward.
“Two of my brother-governors and I took the Federal Government to court over this ill-advised policy and fought resolutely until we got a respite for our people from Emefiele and company.
“This same Emefiele now wants to proceed on study leave when he has some 10 months left of his tenure apparently in a bid to evade rendering accounts. This is unacceptable. President Buhari should not countenance this.
“Emefiele must stay at his job to give full accounts of all that transpired under his watch to the incoming administration. He must answer all the questions the new regime may have for him particularly when he still has some months left of his tenure,” Matawalle said.
The governor said some officers of the outgoing administration have a lot of questions to answer in the incoming government and appealed to the President not to approve foreign postings or grant any foreign travels for any officer at any level who have critical roles to play.
“I’m aware that some officers in the outgoing government are moving to surreptitiously leave the country at this critical time they are needed to answer specific questions, though I would not want to mention their names here.
“President Buhari should not heed their inordinate and unpatriotic plan. These plans are dangerous and devilish. They show clearly that these officers have something to hide. This must be halted immediately. Any plan to evade rendering accounts is neither in the interest of accountability, transparency, and anti-corruption, which President Buhari had championed in government, nor in the interest of an unencumbered take-off of the incoming administration.
“It’s also not in the interest of the country, which the president has always promoted and championed. This is my appeal and why I have decided to speak out as a patriotic Nigerian and concerned governor,”
