Ololade Adeyanju/
Ondo State Governor, Oluwarotimi Akeredolu, has asked Central Bank Governor, Godwin Emefiele, to resign his position following reports he had obtained the All Progressives Congress presidential form to contest in next year’s election.
In a statement, which he personally signed thui evening, Akeredolu described the action of the CBN governor as “a joke taken too far”.
In the statement, titled, ‘The CBN Governor Must Disengage Forthwith,’ Akeredolu urged President Muhammadu Buhari to sack Emefiele if he refused to resign voluntarily.
The governor argued that it was impossible for Emefiele to “combine partisan politics with the very delicate assignment of his office”.
Part of the statement reads, “The news of the purchase of APC Presidential Nomination Forms purportedly by the supporters of CBN Gov., Godwin Emefiele has been received with palpable disbelief and shock. This act, if unchecked, timeously, portends great danger.”
Akeredolu observed that “it is incontrovertible that Mr Emefiele enjoys a constitutionally protected right to belong to any group. It is, however, difficult to imagine that a person who occupies the exalted and sensitive office of the Governor of the CBN will be this brazen in actualizing his ambition”.
“The combined effect of the Public Service Rules, CBN Act and the 1999 Constitution, as amended, exposes not only the oddity inherent in this brash exercise of presumed right to associate.
“Consequently, we admonish Mr Emefiele to leave the office, immediately, for him to pursue his interest. He cannot combine partisan politics with the very delicate assignment of his office.
“Should he refuse to quit, it becomes incumbent on the President and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces to remove him forthwith. This is a joke taken too far,” he added.
