The reason the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Godwin Emefiele, withdrew from the 2023 Presidential race has been revealed.
TrackNews reports that some farmers and groups had purchased the All Progressives Congress (APC) Presidential Nomination and Expression of Interest Forms for Emefiele.
Reacting to the development, the apex governor denied entering the presidential race, saying that he would use his money to purchase the form if he eventually decide to contest the race.
Days after the denial, Emefiele filed a suit against the Attorney-General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) over his presidential ambition.
He asked the court for an order restraining Malami and INEC from preventing or hindering his participation in the process of the presidential election.
The apex bank boss then reportedly jettisoned his presidential ambition and also withdrew the case he filed against Malami and INEC.
After withdrawing the case, Emefiele’s lawyer, Mike Ozekhome (SAN), said Emefiele would only resign from the CBN on moral grounds and not on points of law.
He, however, said the decision to quit the apex bank to contest for the presidency would be left to Buhari and the CBN governor.
However, in a chat with The Punch on Tuesday, a source disclosed that President Muhammadu Buhari ordered Emefiele to withdraw from the presidential race and also discontinue his suit at the court.
The source said the President directed the economist to concentrate on his job as the CBN governor and forget his Presidential aspiration.
The source said, “Emefiele instructed his lawyers to discontinue the matter, and the lawyer complied. He had briefed his lawyers to handle the matter, and a lawyer acted on the instruction of his client.
“The lawyers have withdrawn the case, I think based on his agreement with President Muhammadu Buhari to better stay back as Governor of CBN instead of going for the Presidency, I think that’s why.
“When they discontinued it, the party that wanted to join, one Martin Aikpokpo, asked for a dismissal of the case and N1 million cost, which the court rejected.
“Justice Ahmed Mohammed rejected the request; the AGF asked for N1 million cost, which the court also rejected. So what the court did was merely strike out the suit without any order as to cost.”
