The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has called for the immediate resignation and prosecution of the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Godwin Emefiele, following the ”allegations by the All Progressives Congress (APC) that he superintended over massive looting of funds in the CBN”.
In a statement released by its publicity secretary, Kola Ologbondiyan, PDP called on the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to immediately invite Emefiele for questioning over allegations by the National Secretary of the illegal APC National Caretaker Committee, Senator John Akpan Udoedehe, that the CBN governor supervised over the pillaging of the nation’s vaults under his watch.
”Nigerians were shocked when Senator Akpan Udoedehe, on Channels TV programme “Politics Today” of Wednesday, September 15, 2021, revealed that the CBN governor supervised over the stealing of money in the apex bank, a development for which he must be investigated by the EFCC and if found wanting, prosecuted.
We have waited for a week for Senator Akpan Udoedehe to recant on his statement or for Emefiele to repudiate the APC National Secretary.
Our party insists that beyond Akpan Udoedehe’s allegation, the tenure of Emefiele as CBN governor under the APC administration has witnessed colossal failures of monetary and fiscal policies, requiring him to vacate the office and hand himself over for investigation.
It is instructive to note that when Emefiele took office as CBN Governor in 2014 the naira exchanged for N164 to a dollar. Today, in the hands of Emefiele and the APC, the naira has tumbled to near N600 to a dollar, putting the nation’s economy on its knees.
Painfully, under the leadership of Emefiele, the CBN has failed in its core mandate of managing the economy and took a dive into propaganda, with claims that do not reflect the harsh economic reality on the ground.
The PDP therefore urges the EFCC not to allow this revelation to be swept under the carpet as it borders on serious economic sabotage which sanctions are clearly spelt out under our laws.”the statement read in part
Meanwhile, the Central Bank of Nigeria has explained the importance of e-naira, a digital currency it promised to launch in the country by the end of 2021.According to the CBN, the country’s adoption of digital currency would boost cross-border trade and enable the apex bank to formulate better macroeconomic policies.
The Director, Information and Technology, CBN, Rakitya Muhammed opined this while speaking virtually at the Third Quarter Industry Forum of the Committee of E-business Industry Heads held in Abuja on Wednesday, September 22, 2021.
She said, “If people adopt more of the usage of the e-naira, then we will be able to have more data to formulate better macroeconomic policies.
“And when countries come on board and create their own digital currencies then we will be able to have a faster exchange of currencies and therefore we might be able to boost cross-border trade at a much lower cost.
“Of course payment efficiency, even though we know that Nigeria has one of the best payment systems in the world, we will still be able to improve on that.
“We believe that the e-naira will be a catalyst for digital economy because the people who are outside the formal banking sector will be integrated.”
On the e-naira design, she said that the CBN had concluded its development, and it would soon be unveiled.
She further said that the digital currency would be a legal tender like the fiat naira.
“In terms of the e-naira design, it will be a legal tender just like cash which is one of the fundamental differences between it and the cryptocurrency.
“One, e-naira will be equal to one fiat naira, and we adopted a two-tier retail model that would be a lot less disruption into the financial system.
“Our banks, payment service providers, and Fintech are all going to be on board and we are going to key to the infrastructure they have already and incorporate the new system.
“It is not meant to replace the cash we have, but only to supplement,” she said.
