The man in the eye of the storm for almost three months now, Godwin Emefiele, governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) must be writhing in pain, after what seems like he was thrown under the bus by his employer, President Muhammadu Buhari.
But with this government, one cannot be too sure. It may have been part of the plan all along.
On Monday night, exactly 10 days after the highest court in the country, the Supreme Court, gave a ruling on a suit brought before it by some state governors challenging the new naira policy of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and timelines for use of old currency, the CBN finally issued a statement on the matter, saying the old N200, N500 and N1000 remail legal tender alongside the redesigned notes till December 31.
The Supreme Court had ruled that the old N200, N500 and N1,000 notes should remain legal tender till December 31, 2023.
The Supreme Court based it’s judgement on the premise that the policy was carried out without due consultation and in line with constitutional provisions.
After the judgement, however, there was no word from the CBN concerning its implementation, a situation that led to confusion in the country as everyone waited with bathed breaths.
If anyone thought that issuing timely press statements on important national issues was not in the tradition of the CBN, that doubt was cleared on Monday when the apex bank issued a statement within hours of a news report that its governor, Godwin Emefiele, had launched a fresh plot against president-elect Bola Ahmed Tinubu, after trying unsuccessfully to stop him at the party primaries and the recently held presidential election. The report had also accused Emefiele of making N500 million of new notes available to the Labour party in Lagos to prosecute its campaign.
In its swift rebuttal, the CBN among others, said its governor does not participate in politics and even went on to challenge anyone with contrary information to prove the governor wrong to bring their facts forward.
Maybe everyone at the CBN has forgotten but Nigerians still remember Emefiele as the CBN governor who is neck deep in politics, having bought the nomination form to contest the primaries of the All Progressives Congress (APC) last year and even gone as far as going to court to assert his right to contest.
For clarity, it was Emefiele who in May 2022, filed a suit against the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), and the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, alleging attempt to disqualify him from the 2023 presidential election.
He had prayed the court through his lawyers, to declare that he can validly participate in the primary election of any political party and is entitled to vote and be voted for as candidate of any political party of his choice, for the purpose of the nomination of candidates for the election to the office of President or any other office under the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, as amended.
He later lost the bid as his plea was not granted by the court.
How this, to the people at the CBN, does not amount to being involved in politics is one of the wonders of the world.
Following the March 3 Supreme Court judgement, Abubakar Malami, Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, had said his role did not include advice on monetary issues. Speaking through his his media aide, Dr. Umar Gwandu, the minister told a newspaper that “the functions of the office of Attorney General do not include monetary policy regulation.”
Never mind that this view was at total variance with one held by the minister as elucidated in a television interview when he said “So the issue of obedience to the ruling of the Supreme Court is out of it. We are wholeheartedly in agreement that naturally, we are bound by it and will comply accordingly.
“But within the context of compliance, we shall challenge the ruling by way of filing an application seeking for it to be set aside. It is all about the rule of law.”
According to reports, last week, the Supreme Court served its ruling to the attorney general, leaving him no further excuse for not complying with the ruling.
Amidst all this, last week, some commercial banks began issuing the old N500 and N1000 notes to customers in some parts of the country.
Paradoxically, businesses were rejecting the notes as they said they were awaiting directive from the CBN. Banks that issued out the old notes were also not accepting deposits in those notes from customers, leaving those who got paid in them, stuck with them.
While the waiting game continued, President Muhammadu Buhari on Monday issued a statement disowning the duo of Malami and Emefiele, saying he at no time instructed them to disobey the Supreme Court or any other Court judgement for that matter.
One would expect that such a statement would be followed by sanctions on the duo for embarrassing the government, which claims to be a respecter of the rule of law since it came into office in 2015 but this was not seen.
Rather, in the same statement, the president, in a manner that smacks of exonerating them, goes on to say “…In any case, it is debatable at this time if there is proof of willful denial by the two of them on the orders of the apex court.”
Continuing, he added: “…The CBN has no reason not to comply with court orders on the excuse of waiting for directives from the President.”
I don’t know who else is reading between the lines but the way I see it, there was a game at play and it is unfortunate that the masses were the ones who suffered the fallout, even though President Buhari believes that “As for the cashless system the CBN is determined to put in place, it is a known fact that many of the country’s citizens who bear the brunt of the sufferings, surprisingly support the policy as they believe that the action would cut corruption, fight terrorism, build an environment of honesty and reinforce the incorruptible leadership of the President.”
The big question that may or may not be answered is why it took 10 long days for the president to speak on the issue and disown the two officers involved and why it took the president disowning him for the CBN governor to act.
The taciturn nature of the president almost demystified the Supreme Court but at the end of the day, the court reigns supreme whether Emefiele and his cohorts like it or not.
