Resignation: Emefiele shuns Buhari’s order, says some people will have heart attack

The governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Godwin Emefiele said he would give some people a heart attack over his presidential ambition.

The governor who has been condemned by many Nigerians for his ambition despite the sensitive position he holds in the current government is yet to resign from his office against president Buhari’s order a few days ago.

The president through the Minister of information and culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed had ordered all political appointees in his cabinet with a political aspiration to resign on or before Monday.

The announcement prompted some ministers to tender their resignation almost immediately.

But the CBN governor who was expected to follow the suit instead, employed a legal hand to contest his reason for resignation.

Speaking over the matter, Emefiele’s lawyer, Chief Mike Ozekhome said his client would only resign on moral grounds and not on points of law.

He however said the decision to quit would be left to the President and Emefiele.

Emefiele had through Ozekhome applied for an order of status quo ante bellum to be made against INEC and AGF so that he would not be made to resign from office until 30 days to the 2023 general elections.

The plaintiff in an ex-parte application had also denied being a political appointee but a public servant not caught by section 84 (12) of the new Electoral Act 2022.

The CBN governor had asked the court to invoke Section 318 of the 1999 constitution to bar the defendants from asking him to vacate office until 30 days to the February 2023 Presidential election.

According to Ozekhome his client, the CBN governor would only resign on moral grounds and not on points of law.

He said, “Whether he (Emefiele) goes or not is his own decision, he has told me to take up the legal aspect for him, that if he wants to go at all, he is entitled to stay in office 30 days to the general elections.

“But it is now left for him to go even before the case is decided or after. But at least the law would have decided.

“Yes, it (resignation) is left for him but not because of legal requirements. If he wants to go,  it will be on moral ground, not because the law says he must go now.

He added that “We are talking of the constitution here, we are talking of Section 137 (1g) and Section 318 of the constitution which makes him a public officer and the Court of Appeal decision that Section 84 (12) of the Electoral Act is unconstitutional and that Section cannot even apply to him because Emefiele is not a political appointee within the meaning of Section 84 (12).

“If he decides to go, it will be on moral ground not on the legal or constitutional ground because the law does not say he must go. It is entirely his own decision and the decision of the President who appointed him not because that is the position of the law.

“The Court of Appeal yesterday (Wednesday) said Section 84, Sub-section 12 of the Electoral Act (as amended) is unconstitutional for being inconsistent with Section 42 Sub-section 1 of the 1999 constitution which gives the right to freedom of assembly and association.

“But our argument actually goes beyond that;  our argument is that Section 84, whether it was validated or not, does not apply to Godwin Emefiele, that section applies only to political appointees, Godwin Emefiele is not a political appointee, Godwin Emefiele is a public officer within the meaning of Section 318 of the constitution of Nigeria.

“And by virtue of Section 137 Sub-section 1(g), a public officer like Emefiele is only required by the constitution to give 30 days notice before the presidential election which is slated for  February 25 2023, that is the position of the law.

“The question of whether Emefiele will leave office during this case, before the case is ended or after the case, is entirely left to him and the President who appointed him. I wasn’t briefed to handle the moral and administrative angle to this case, I was briefed to handle only the legal and constitutional area and that is what I have just told you, that is the position of the law.”

Meanwhile, the CBN governor after meeting with Buhari at the Presidential Villa on Thursday, Emefiele told journalists that he was ‘having fun’ over the matter.

He also expressed that “there will be news” on the issue.

Asked to respond to reports that Buhari had directed him to resign he said: “There is no news now, but there will be news. You heard me, I said there is no news but there will be news”.

When confronted with the notion that his current position as a presidential aspirant and CBN governor is a major point of concern for the Nigers and even the international community, Emefiele noted “Let them have heart attacks. It’s good to have a heart attack. I am having a lot of fun.”