The Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Godwin Emefiele, may have finally decided to join in presidential race after an unnamed group purportedly made up of farmers picked up the Expression of Interest and Nomination forms for him at a cost of N100 million.
This is so because Godwin Emefiele has gone to court to rule that he is not bound to resign as CBN Governor to actualize his ambition.
Recall that Emefiele said over the weekend through his verifiable Twitter handle that he is still waiting on God to so that he confirmed whether he would run or not.
Just today, Monday, 9th April, 2022, in a suit he filed at the Federal High Court in Abuja through Chief Mike Ozekhome (SAN), Emefiele is praying for a declaration that he is not bound to resign as the CBN Governor to participate in a primary election to select a presidential candidate.
The CBN Governor is the sole plaintiff in the suit, with the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and the Attorney-General of the Federation as respondents.
Emefiele is praying the court to determine whether Section 84(12) of the Electoral Act 2022 is not inconsistent with Section 137 (1)(G) of the 1999 Constitution.
The grounds of application says: “That the plaintiff has aspiration to seek election to the Office of the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and participate as a candidate in the upcoming 2023 elections”.
“That section 84(12) of the Electoral Act, 2022 provides that: ‘No political appointee at any level shall be a voting delegate or be voted for at the Convention or Congress of any political party for the purpose of the nomination of candidates for any election’.
“That the plaintiff verily believes that he is not affected by these provisions, as he is not a political appointee as envisaged by the above provisions of section 84(12) of the Electoral Act, 2022″.
“That the Central Bank of Nigeria is entirely (100 per cent) owned by the Nigerian Federal Government, and therefore constitutes a government agency with the meaning and intendment of Section 318 of 1999 Constitution”.
