Godwin Emefiele, governor of Nigeria’s Central Bank (CBN) has put to rest months of speculations about his presidential ambition as he picked the All Progressives Congress (APC) expression of interest and nomination forms for the presidential race.
Without fanfare, three groups picked the N100 million forms on behalf of the CBN Governor at the Abuja International Conference Centre on Friday.
The groups, Rice Farmers Association of Nigeria, Friends of Emefiele and Emefiele Support Group, said Emefiele is the only responsible and responsive person to succeed President Muhammadu Buhari at the 2023 general election.
However, the CBN governor has not officially indicated interest in running for presidency.
Emefiele had said that he was focused on strengthening the nation’s economy amid calls by supporters that he should contest for the nation’s topmost office in 2023.
According to the groups, Nigeria is passing through a lot of economic and security challenges, and the parties and the electorate must bring in experience, dynamism, energy, equity and fairness in the choice of who becomes the next President of Nigeria.
Expressing the reason for their push for Emefiele, they said the CBN governor’s tenure as head of the Nigerian apex bank, has shown capacity, focus, courage and worked tirelessly with the economic team of President Muhammadu Buhari to keep the economy of our great country afloat above recession and outright collapse.
A coalition of commodity associations in Nigeria and other groups raised N100 million to purchase the presidential expression of interest and nomination forms for the Central Bank Governor.
The groups said the decision was reached having realized that the CBN governor is one of the trusted and tested Nigerians that have the commitment and competence to protect the interests of farmers across the country and give priority to commodity and agricultural value chain.
Read also: 2023: Central banker or politician? Emefiele must decide what he is
The leaders of the commodity associations arrived at this decision on Wednesday at the end of a two-day intensive meeting in Maitama, Abuja, that drew more than 30 commodity associations from 36 states of the federation and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).
One of the conveners of the meeting, Malam Ibrahim Garba told BusinessDay that the meeting was convened to articulate the position of the commodity associations who are the biggest stakeholders in the country ahead of the 2023 general elections.
He said the robust national security the country needs now can only be achieved through food security.
“Agriculture is the key to achieving national security. Through agriculture, millions of Nigerians are economically empowered and gainfully engaged, our industries are revived, a multifaceted value chain ecosystem created, and food security is ensured,” he said.
The commodity associations’ leaders said in the last seven years, Nigeria has carved a niche for itself as a country that has achieved self-sufficiency in food production. “Despite the Covid-19 pandemic, Nigerians were never short of food. We were never hungry even when every country in the world shut its borders for nearly a year.
“Only God knows what would have happened if we were importing the food we eat. There would have been war. But that was averted due to the resilience of Nigerian farmers and commitment to agriculture by the President Muhammadu Buhari administration,” one of the farmers’ leaders from the Southeast, Madu Ndubuisi, said.
It was to sustain this unprecedented agricultural feat that the representatives of farmers and their leaders across the commodities converged in Abuja for two days and decided to raise N100 million to acquire an APC form for Emefiele who is the driver of the Buhari agricultural revolution.
It was learnt that the farmers have divided themselves into six zones, with each zone raising at least N20 million. “We have decided that every farmer in the country would donate a minimum of N200 for this cause. We have set the ball rolling. We are not leaving any stone unturned,” Mudi Ila, another commodity association leader from Jigawa State,” said.
Can Emefiele run?
Meanwhile, political analysts are questioning the legality of Emefiele’s move.
The experts hold that only card-carrying party members are able to buy the nomination form.
“Don’t you have to be a party member to buy form? Or can anyone just walk in and buy? Whichever way, the answer will be very enlightening,” a commentator said. “If it is yes, how can we have a party member as CBN governor? How can a party allow non members vie for highest office?”
However, Olisa Agbakoba, a senior advocate of Nigeria (SAN), said: “This is a grey area as the political appointee is not a public servant required to resign but the appeal case on the point in relation to Section 84 of the Electoral Act ought to be decided very quickly to provide a legal framework for what political appointees must do.”
With the purchase of the forms, Emefiele has added to the over 20 aspirants jostling for the APC presidential ticket, including Bola Tinubu, former Lagos state governor, Vice President Yomi Osinbajo; Rotimi Amaechi, Transport Minister; Governors Yahaya Bello, Dave Umahi, Kayode Fayemi, Mohamed Abubakar-Badaru and Ben Ayade of Kogi, Ebonyi, Ekiti, Jigawa and Cross River states; Rochas Okorocha; former Imo governor; Ibikunle Amosun, former Ogun governor and Adams Oshiomhole former Edo governor.
Others are; Chris Ngige, Labour Minister; Ogbonoya Onu, Minister of Science, Technology and Innovation; Ken Nnamani, former Senate President, Tunde Bakare, General Overseer of Citadel Global Community Church; Godswill Akpabio, minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Ahmad Lawan, President of the Senate; Chukwuemeka Nwajiuba, minister of state for education; Uju Ohanenye, first female aspirant and Nicholas Felix, a 40-year-old U.S. based General Overseer and Founder of Miracle Centre International Inc.
