A former member of the House of Representatives’ Committees on Justice and human rights , Hon. Kayode Oladele has heaped the blames for the sordid implementation of the Naira Redesign policy on the Governor of Central Bank of Nigeria, Godwin Emefiele whom he accused of violating the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Act, the Code of Conduct for Public Officers in the Fifth Schedule to the 1999 Constitution ( as amended) as well as the Code of Conduct Bureau and Tribunal Act respectively by not only failing to devote the whole of his time to the service of the Bank and engaging in activities that conflict with or distract him from his full time duties as the CBN Governor but also by putting himself in a position where his personal interest as a former presidential aspirant of a political party conflicts with his public duties and responsibilities.
According to Oladele who is also a human rights lawyer, by throwing himself in the political arena, Mr. Emefiele has mucky the waters for himself and tainted the policy with political implications and complications. Oladele wondered whether it was legally permissible and not a misconduct for a CBN Governor to be a card carrying member of a political Party and ran a political campaign for President while still in office without implicating Section 1 (3) of the CBN Act which provides that “in order to facilitate the achievement of its mandate under this Act and the Banks and Other Financial Institutions Act, and in line with the objective of promoting stability and continuity in economic management, the Bank shall be an independent body in the discharge of its functions”.
“The issue then becomes for instance, whether the Chairmen of similar independence agencies such as the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) , Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and Independent Corrupt Practices Commission (ICPC‘) can be card carrying members of political parties and run for political offices while in office without compromising their independence and official duties and responsibilities . Section 14 of the Code of Conduct Bureau and Tribunal Act, Cap C 15 Vol. II, Revised LFN 2004 provides that “a public officer shall not be a member of, or belong to, or take part in any society, a membership of which is incompatible with the functions or dignity of his office .
There is also an identical provisions in Paragraphs 1 and 10 respectively, of the Code of Conduct for Public Officers in Part 1 of the Fifth Schedule to the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999). Let’s call a spade a spade, the Governor of CBN has not devoted the whole of his time to the service of the Bank in this past year and this has affected the smooth implementation of the Naira redesign policy which ought to have been done at the time he was campaigning around the country and spending the tax payers time and resources to succeed President Muhammadu Buhari as President of the country. The whole world is watching us with shock and consternation but they wouldn’t talk because this is our internal affairs “., Oladele said.
Hon. Oladele stated further that as a public officer and Governor of the CBN, Mr. Emefiele has also violated Section 5 of the CCB&T Act which provides that “a public officer shall not put himself in a position where his personal interest conflicts with his public duties and responsibilities. “ He has allowed his personal interest to conflict with his duties and responsibilities. This is why he has out the entire country in these perilous and precarious situations”. , he concluded.
