Labour Party said Tinubu should leave the CBN and probe INEC and its Chairman, Mahmood Yakubu, instead.
The Labour Party has berated President Bola Tinubu over his decision to suspend the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Governor, Godwin Emefiele.
The bank said, rather than going after Emefiele, the President should investigate the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and its Chairman Prof. Mahmood Yakubu.
In a not-so-shocking development, Tinubu dropped the axe on Emefiele who had caught the figure of a public enemy number one due to a series of controversial fiscal and monetary policies throughout his reign.
His suspension was conveyed in a statement issued by the Director of Information, Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Willie Bassey.
Bassey explained that the embattled top banker was suspended as the CBN governor because of an ongoing investigation as well as a planned reform of the financial sector.
Emefiele was also picked up by men of the Department of State Services (DSS) in Lagos on Saturday and slammed in custody for the purposes of investigation.
Emefiele arrested while trying to flee Nigeria through Lagos, APC member says.
Labour Party condemns Tinubu’s action
But, the Labour Party in a statement by its on spokesman, Obiorah Ifo, on Saturday, June 10, 2023, described the move by Tinubu as unconstitutional.
The party said, “It is laughable to read that statement as most Nigerians are already aware of the intention of the government. If indeed, there is any government agency that should be investigated with this utmost urgency, should it not be the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC and its Chairman, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu?
“The leadership of the Labour Party is disturbed by the decision of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to suspend/sack the Governor of the Central Bank, Godwin Emefiele, albeit unconstitutionally without seeking the permission of the national assembly and we insist that the action was not in good taste and sounds punitive.” the party added.
The Labour Party also claimed that Emefiele is being held as the “fall guy” for the naira swap policy of the CBN which it said hurt the political class.
The statement referenced a 2014 comment by the then-Minority Leader of the House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila, which faulted former President Goodluck Jonathan‘s removal of Sanusi Lamido as the CBN chief on the basis that the Nigerian leader had no such powers.
“Most Nigerians will not forget in a hurry the famous Naira redesign policy initiated by Emefiele primarily to check vote buying in the last general election. A noble policy which a particular candidate then, unfortunately, believed was targeted at him. To him, it was a mortal sin which cannot be forgiven and must be punished. Labour Party believes that Emefiele, a fall guy, is paying for his “sin”,” the statement read in part.
