The suspended governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Godwin Emefiele, resigned from his post last month, according to a report by Reuters.
President Bola Tinubu nominated the former head of Citibank in Nigeria, Olayemi Cardoso, to serve as the country’s new central bank governor days before its next interest rate meeting and set tongues wagging as to the legality of the appointment as there cannot be two governors of the apex bank at the same time.
However, government sources told Reuters that Godwin Emefiele, suspended as central bank chief by Tinubu in June and later detained by state police and charged with procurement fraud, resigned last month, effectively clearing the way for Cardoso to replace him.
Meanwhile, Tinubu sent Cardoso’s nomination to the Senate for confirmation alongside four new deputy governors and it is unclear if the former deputy governors had themselves also resigned.
However, Reuters news claimed The central bank did not respond to their request to comment on whether Emefiele and his deputy governors had resigned together. Ngelale declined to comment when asked about Emefiele’s resignation.