Over time, it has become clearer that behind the demure and soft-spoken facade of Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Godwin Emefiele, lays a shrewd, ruthless and nepotistic mind.
In and around the apex bank, tales abound of his single-minded ambition to supplant his cronies in sensitive positions in the CBN and everywhere his influence extends to.
The past year, especially since it became obvious that he won’t get an extension to his one term of five years, has further brought this to the fore.
From propping up and positioning his cronies for juicy offers to round tripping, Emefiele, sources in the bank said, has carried on with so much imperiousness and disregard for due process.
The latest in his litany of malfeasances is the allegation that when an opening came up at the International Monetary Fund for a staff of the CBN to become a director, Emefiele circumvented the process and instead appointed one of his Personal Assistants, Kingsley Obiora.
Ordinarily, the slot is for a staff of the CBN but jumping over even more qualified personnel at the bank to appoint his own person has thrown the bank into disarray. Eyebrows have now been raised about this brazen disregard for processes and procedures but Emefiele has carried on like an intransigent Emperor.
This is no different from his stealth insistence to ensure that a fellow Deltan, Priscilla Eleje, is confirmed as the substantive Director of Currency Operations, which would automatically mean that for the first time in the history of the Naira, two people from the same part of the country – in fact, the same state – would be co-signing it. All of these and more are why Emefiele is seen as an emperor within the CBN.
Source: The Capital
