Can Bola Tinubu Clean The Augean Stable
The recent suspension of the Central Bank Governor Godwin Emefiele by President Tinubu and the announcement that the activities of Nigeria’s apex bank under his watch will be probed was an attempt at house cleaning which must be extensive and sustainable.
For a long time, there was a distinct sense that the days of Mr. Godwin Emefiele Nigeria’s Central Bank Governor was numbered. Indeed, early this year, as critical elections bore down on the country, there was a bit of uncertainty and even anxiety whether he would be arrested by men of the Department of State Services. It was not to be, as he somehow managed to navigate what was an uncertain period.
It is an open secret that Nigeria suffers from deep-rooted systemic problems that have conspired to keep the country rooted to the spot many years after independence. Many Nigerians recognize that the issue with Nigeria is a systemic one.
This issue is especially cast into sharp relief for holders of public office in Nigeria, who are usually caught in the eye of the storm. The pressure typically gets so much on them that they stumble from one mistake to the other in a short span of time.
With Emefiele, it should soon become clearer if he was the catalyst or victim of some of Nigeria’s most pressing issues of recent years. But it is clear that in the run-up to the elections that produced the man who is now determined to put him under the microscope,Emefiele did himself no favours with Nigerians.
As the Governor of Nigeria’s Central Bank, there was always suspicion of partisanship. However, as the 2023 general elections neared, he was to play a disastrous hand when he joined the queue with President Tinubu and other candidate to contest for the presidential ticket of the All Progressives Congress(APC). The staggering cost of the nomination forms,100 million, did raise eyebrows, but not as much as the fact that the occupant of such a sensitive office who was supposed to be independent at every point was a card-carrying member of the ruling APC and was anything but apolitical.
As Nigerians wailed themselves hoarse over the move, Emefiele failed to cover himself in glory with his actions, dismissing the insinuations that his entrance into the race for Nigeria’s highest office was purely the handiwork of his supporters who had gone on to purchase the forms for him.
If Nigerians were scandalized that the country’s number one banker was unashamedly partisan, the hammer blow was still on its way.
In one of the most controversial moves of his eight-year-old administration, Muhammadu Buhari had decided with the Central Bank of Nigeria to redesign the Naira. Coming on the cusp of critical general elections, there were just enough accusations to fly around. In the defense of the move, Buhari’s government had argued that redesigning the Naira had become critical to discourage the inducement of voters, stimulate the economy and, crucially, curb insecurity.
To say that Nigerians did not buy the redesign hook, line and sinker is to put it mildly. Nigerians, ever suspicious of the Buhari administration after years of failure to deliver on, were immediately critical but not as critical as they were when the scarcity of Naira notes began to put families and businesses under enormous strain.
In the eye of the Naira redesign storm was Emefiele who lost further credibility as the Central Bank suffered as string of loses in court and was forced to admit that perhaps the policy had been mistimed and a little hasty.
Whether it helped Nigerians have free and fair general elections is debatable, especially as the elections were widely criticized as among the worst in Nigeria’s history. When the Supreme Court struck down the policy, a nail was hammered into the reputation of Nigeria’s Central Bank and Emefiele.
When those calling for his arrest became too loud, he rushed to court to obtain injunctions.
If Buhari did everything to shield Emefiele from those desperate to get at him, probably because he was a loyal servant of the administration, now that he has retired to Daura,it appears that there is no one to shield the banker from the wrath of the new pharaoh who did not know Joseph.
Of course, if there is strong evidence, that Emefiele breached public trust and deliberately took decisions that conflicted with his duties as the CBN Governor, then indeed, he must unsparingly face the full wrath of the law.
But the suspicion that simmers just beneath the surface is that Tinubu may just be on a mission to get back at those who made it difficult for him to get into office. If that is the case, it would be unfortunate and highly regrettable that such a course of action has been favoured so early in the life of an administration that has promised Nigerians renewed hope.
What the Emefiele saga shows is that Nigeria needs a thorough cleanup. In slightly over sixty years of independence, the country has become so infested with corruption that it is only a handful of people that are yet to be touched.
The Nigerians public office has been the most affected. The grating impunity with which those who occupy public office disregard laws and breach public trust speaks to a problem that has become intractable.
Tinubu has his demons that very much resemble the demons Nigeria is battling with. It is doubtful that they will let him do much.
Kene Obiezu,
keneobiezu@gmail.com
