The Nigerian Bar Association and civil rights groups on Monday warned that Central Bank of Nigeria Governor, Mr. Godwin Emefiele’s involvement in politics was threatening the 2023 elections. They also said his membership of the All Progressives Congress had eroded the credibility of the apex bank, where sensitive materials are kept, during elections. Prominent Nigerians who spoke separately to The PUNCH condemned Emefiele’s APC membership and his failure to resign while allegedly plotting to contest the 2023 presidency. But the Independent National Electoral Commission, in a statement by Rotimi Oyekanmi, the Chief Press Secretary to its Chairman, said it had taken notice of the latest revelation on Emefiele. It added that it might move ballot papers from the CBN vaults. The Chairman of the APC Ward 6 of the Ika South Local Government Area of Delta State, Mr. Nduka Erikpume, had on Sunday confirmed Emefiele’s membership of the ruling party, saying the CBN governor registered as far back as February 2021. Three support groups had last week bought APC N100m presidential nomination and expression of interest forms for the CBN governor. A source, on Sunday, told The PUNCH that Emefiele would on Monday (yesterday), at a Federal High Court in Abuja seek a constitutional interpretation on his continuous stay in office amidst his presidential ambition. In a suit marked FHC/ABJ/CS/610/2022 and filed on May 5, the CBN governor asked the court to declare that he could participate in any political party’s presidential primary poll and could only resign 30 days to the election. In the suit filed by his lawyer, Mike Ozekhome, and has INEC and the Attorney General of the Federation as plaintiffs, Emefiele argued that he was free from section 84(12) of the new electoral act because he is a public servant and not a political appointee. He is also seeking “an order of perpetual injunction restraining the defendants whether by themselves, their agents, servants or privies or any legal representative from hindering, stopping or precluding the Plaintiff from participating, voting or being voted for at the congress or convention of any political party of his choice for the purpose of the nomination of candidates for the election to the office of the president or any other office under the constitution of the federal republic of Nigeria (as amended).” The court on Monday refused the plaintiff’s request but summoned INEC and the AGF to appear before it on May 12 to show cause why the CBN governor’s demands should not be granted. Currently, the National Assembly and the Peoples Democratic Party have appealed the judgment of a Federal High Court in Owerri, which ordered the removal of Section 84 (12) from the new electoral Act. Shortly after Emefiele went to court and his membership in the APC came to the fore, INEC disclosed that it was reviewing its relationship with the CBN. The Chief Press Secretary to INEC chairman, Oyekanmi, in the statement he issued in Abuja, stated that the commission would take action concerning sensitive materials which were being kept in the custody of CBN during elections. He was reacting to the observation made by some critics including a human rights lawyer, Ebun-Oluwa Adegboruwa, on the implication of Emefiele’s ambition. Adegboruwa had in a statement titled: ‘The comedy of Emefiele’s case’, raised the alarm over the safety of INEC materials in CBN vaults. Oyekanmi said, “The strategic partnership between the Central Bank of Nigeria and the Independent National Electoral Commission which enables the commission to store its sensitive election materials with the CBN, has been in place for many years and beneficial in several ways. “Indeed, there have been various reports that the CBN governor is nursing an intention to run for the office of President. But, he has yet to formally declare his intention to run for the office of president as of today. “However, if and when he eventually does, the commission will look at the implications and take a decision on what becomes of the long-standing strategic partnership with the CBN.” Adegboruwa said, “By the decision of the Supreme Court in Akinlade v INEC, there is no competent suit filed by Mr. Emefiele pending before the court for adjudication. “The affidavit in support of the originating summons and indeed the affidavit of urgency were both deposed to by counsel on his behalf, in flagrant violation of Rule 20 of RPC. “An originating summons cannot be determined in the Federal High Court without a competent affidavit in support thereof. “By his status, Emefiele is an employee of the CBN. Any case to determine his status or eligibility should be filed at the National Industrial Court. So long as Emefiele earns a salary as a CBN employee, he should not dream of contesting the election while still holding on to his office. It is an insult to our collective psyche as a people. “Sensitive election materials are always kept in CBN offices nationwide by INEC, unknown to Nigerians that Emefiele as Governor of CBN had been a politician all his life. “The political party that owns the presidential ticket that Emefiele wants to grab is not a party in his court case, contrary to extant laws and practice.” PUNCH

  Ex-President Goodluck Jonathan’s former aide, Reno Omokri, has said his former principal won’t join the 2023 presidential race secretly. Omokri said this while reacting to the purchase of the N100 million Nomination and Expression of Interest forms of the APC for his former principal by some groups. The former president had, however, said the forms were bought without his consent. Omokri posted, “Jonathan has nothing to do with the reported purchase of some forms. He has an official spokesman and his own staff. He is a man of honour and will not do anything surreptitiously. The media and the public should be guided. “I could have denied this hours ago, but I deliberately declined in order to watch his enemies and mine dance deliriously at the thought that they’d demystified @GEJonathan. There is no Nigerian alive that has the national and international credibility that HE GEJ has.” Jonathan had rejected the forms bought for him to contest the 2023 presidential election by nomadic Fulani pastoralists and Almajiri communities. Jonathan’s Media Adviser, Mr Ikechukwu Eze, in a statement on Monday, said it was an insult for the community to buy the forms for him without his consent. The statement was in reaction to the earlier purchase of the forms for the former president to contest the party’s ticket with other aspirants for the 2023 presidential election. “It has come to our notice that a group has purportedly purchased Presidential Expression of Interest and Nomination forms of the APC in the name of former President Dr Goodluck Ebele Jonathan. “We wish to categorically state that Dr Jonathan was not aware of this bid and did not authorise it. “We want to state that if the former president wanted to contest an election, he would make his intentions clear to the public and will not enter through the back door,” Eze said. He, however, expressed appreciation for the overwhelming request by a cross-section of Nigerians for Jonathan to make himself available for the 2023 presidential election. Eze stressed that the former president had not in any way, committed himself to the request. “Buying a presidential aspiration form in the name Dr Jonathan without his consent, knowing the position he had held in this country, is considered an insult to his person. “The general public is therefore advised to disregard it,” Eze maintained. Malam Ibrahim Abdullahi, leader of the nomadic Fulani pastoralists and Almajiri communities, had earlier told newsmen after picking the forms that Jonathan should be re-elected to enable him to complete what he began. “My name is Ibrahim Abdullahi, I represent two of the most vulnerable communities in our country, the nomadic pastoralists and the almajiri communities. “We have decided to purchase this form for our former president, Dr Goodluck Ebele Jonathan, to come back and rule this country and continue with the good work he started,” he said. Among other things, he said Jonathan was the first president since the country gained independence in 1960 that found it expedient, through his magnanimity, to remember the Almajiri community.

FORMER Senate President, Senator Bukola Saraki, yesterday, declared that Nigeria needs a courageous leader, who would be ready to tackle the security and economic challenges facing the country. This came as former Vice President and presidential aspirant on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Atiku Abubakar, yesterday, lamented that President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration has caused unprecedented disunity among the diverse elements of the country. But the Aare Onakakanfo of Yorubaland, Gani Adams, weekend, said that the trust of Nigerians in politicians is fading gradually, since President Muhammadu Buhari, who was expected to be a messiah, disappointed them. Saraki, who addressed delegates of the PDP in Ogun State, after a closed-door meeting with former President Olusegun Obasanjo, said only a president that is up and running can check the worsening state of insecurity, bad economy and disunity in the country. The presidential hopeful, who was accompanied by a former National Chairman of the PDP, Abubakar Kawu Baraje said: “We need a President that will stand, that is bold and courageous. We all know my four years as the Senate President, I stood for this country, I stood for what I believed was in the interest of this country.” Besides, he said: “Let us find that person who has the energy because the work of a President is not part-time, especially now that the country is very bad. “Nigeria needs a president that is up and running, not a president that will be giving instructions because when you give instructions and you don’t check, nothing will happen. “We need somebody that has the energy to do it. I believe that I have that energy and capacity to do it.” Saraki, who addressed journalists earlier after he met with Obasanjo, said: “We are in a delicate state as a nation and we need somebody who has the experience, somebody who can unite us because, without unity, we cannot go anywhere.” Explaining why he visited Obasanjo, Saraki said: “I can’t come to Ogun State and not pay a visit to the former President, our father and leader of modern Nigeria. Somebody, I’m very close to since I started my political career. So, I came to see him, to let him know that I’m in Ogun State and to see how good and how well he is doing. And we thank God for his health, his energy and his passion for this great country. It inspires us to see that definitely, we need to turn this country around into a country that he wishes for and that all of us wish.” Meanwhile, Atiku, however, promised to reunite Nigerians if elected as the president of the country in 2023. He spoke while meeting with the PDP delegates from Ondo State in Akure. He said: “The whole country had been messed up in all sectors by the current administration and needs a person who is experienced and nationally acceptable to turn around the bad state of the nation. “As long as the country is not united, as long as there is no peace, you cannot govern even in your own home, not to talk of a complex country like Nigeria which is multi-ethnic and multi-religious. “The APC government has caused disunity I have never seen in my life in this country. If I’m elected I will reunite every part of the country.” Atiku highlighted five areas where he would work if elected, which include unity, insecurity, economy, education and restructuring. His words: “I believe in small Federal Government, the power should be devolved to the states. “We must vote for a person with national acceptability and experience. Atiku Abubakar is a household name in this country; we deserve the best for this country. While lamenting that insecurity challenges have been threatening the peace of Nigeria, the presidential hopeful said: “This country has never seen the level of insecurity that we are facing today. I am here because I have the requisite experience to govern this country well and equitably, to give everyone a sense of belonging. I am here to appeal to your conscience; you have a historic responsibility to bail out this country.” But speaking during his 52nd birthday celebration in Lagos where he gave scholarships to students from four tertiary institutions, Adams said that Nigerians do not trust any of those clamouring to be president in 2023. His words: “I can tell you from all indications, the only man Nigerians believed that will save the country was Buhari but he disappointed them. All those clamouring for president now, Nigerians do not trust them. “It is very clear that people are not willing to cast their vote, the number of people voting is reducing every time. The aspirant that has experience will not be allowed to be President of Nigeria because they have commercialised the political space and that is why we don’t get it right as a country. “We always advise our politicians not to run away from the way we started, the constitution we wrote in 1963. If we don’t do the needful, I don’t know what will happen in the next three years.” The Yoruba leader said that the scholarship given to four students from Ekiti State University, Olabisi Onabanjo University, Adekunle Ajasin University and the University of Ibadan was to encourage them to embrace Yoruba studies. “When you talk about culture, some religious groups will think you are promoting something bad, but to the glory of God, we have been able to change people’s perception about religion and culture. “We have a foundation set up to promote our culture and language, no nation can develop without taking her culture and language serious.”