By Ehi Braimah
For those who do not know, “Mefy” is the alias of Godwin
Emefiele, governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) who
completed his first term of five years in 2019 and was re-
appointed by President Muhammadu Buhari for another term of
five years. Ten years is a long time in a high profile position that is
the cynosure if all eyes.
Do you know what it means to be a CBN governor? Mefy’s tenure began on June 4, 2014 when
he was first appointed by former president Goodluck Jonathan. Before this appointment, he had
spent about 26 years in commercial banking and rose to become the group managing
director/chief executive officer of Zenith Bank.
Our CBN governor holds a degree in banking and finance from the University of Nigeria, Nsukka
(UNN) and he is a proud alumnus of Stanford University, Harvard and Wharton Graduate
Schools of Business. As you can see, Mefy possesses excellent credentials from some of the
best universities in the world.
However, since he became CBN governor, it has been a roller-coaster ride for the former
university lecturer.
I don’t know how Emefiele wants to be remembered after he leaves office but if we review his
role as CBN governor and performance as a “politician” between June last year and now, his
rating in the court of public opinion is at an all-time low.
Clearly, this was not Mefy wanted and I’m sure he is not enjoying the negative publicity currently
damaging his reputation. Anywhere he turns these days, the media spotlight is on him for the
wrong reasons.
Two issues which have spun a wide web around him stand out: his foray into presidential
politics and redesign of the naira. If we interrogative these issues extensively, we can write a
book on Mefy and his misadventures. To be clear, he could become a victim of his own folly.
What exactly was Emefiele thinking when, as a sitting Central Bank governor, he showed
interest in the presidential race under the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) without first
resigning his position? I still cannot wrap my head around the idea and when the news travelled
around the world, it was not well received – to the best of my knowledge.
The CBN governor wanted to eat his cake and have it because he knew the heavens will not fall
– a pattern that fits into our pervasive culture of impunity. He was not grandstanding when he
approached a federal high court in Asaba for injunctive reliefs to prevent anyone from scuttling
his presidential ambition.
That was audacity taken too far as a sitting governor.
Mefy was deceived by his close friends, power brokers and dim-witted opportunists into
believing he stood a chance in the race for the presidential ticket of APC which turned out to be
a wild goose chase.
It was part of a grand scheme to derail the presidential primary of APC but it backfired. He was
not the only one lined up for that sinister campaign.
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Mefy was not supposed to mix his position with the murky waters of politics. He failed woefully
on that score, no matter how his PR machine tries to spin the story. As CBN governor, Mefy
ought to ring fence his office from the duplicitous behaviour of politicians and guard it jealousy.
Exposing himself to politics and politicians the way he has done is to compromise the integrity
and high ethical authority of the office. Mefy should have resigned immediately after committing
the unforced error.
Indeed, Mefy’s strategy team had even gone ahead to form different committees and made
several important appointments to drive his political campaign.
According to insiders, eight ministers serving in the Buhari administration attended a strategy
session on Mefy’s presidential project last year at Eko Hotel, Victoria Island, Lagos. Little did
Emefiele know he was being set up with a lot of money going down the drain.
If he truly wanted to be president of Nigeria, wouldn’t it have been better to complete his second
term as CBN governor? Who stampeded him? Why did he punch above his weight? What point
was he trying to prove?
The Central Bank of the United States – also known as the Federal Reserve System or simply,
Fed – has a board of governors headed by Jerome Powell. Is it also possible for Powell to wake
one morning and announce a presidential bid in the United States alongside other candidates
while still serving as chairman?
What of the Bank of England? Can Andrew Bailey, the governor, also muzzle his way through
parliament in the UK and seek to be the country’s prime minister while still in office?
Mefy has his job well cut out for him as CBN governor. He is the head of a powerful and
influential financial institution with full autonomy that acts as a banker and provides economic
and financial advice to the federal government; issue legal tender currency, maintain external
reserves to safeguard the international value of the naira and promote a sound financial system.
Taken together, Mefy’s mandate is to promote the public interest – and defend it. But how well
has he performed?
Under Mefy’s watch, the naira crashed to the point that one dollar exchanges for more than
N750 in the black market. It can be argued the forex crisis is not entirely his fault but it would
appear Emefiele was hoping to reverse the free fall of the naira as president – what he is unable
to achieve as CBN governor.
The same Mefy had earlier accused the founder of Aboki Fx – the discredited online platform for
live exchange rates – for “manipulating” our exchange rate from his base in London and
threatened to “deal” with him. What has changed since then? Do we now have a better
exchange rate?
Mefy knows that foreign currencies – especially the dollar, pounds sterling and euro pegged at
ridiculous exchange rates – are hawked openly at our international airports as well as the
streets of Nigeria, or is he not aware? What is he doing about it? How is it different from those
who spray naira at social events much as I dislike the idea?
Forex challenges aside, the redesign of the naira and its implementation have threatened to
paralyse the economy. Mefy is on the driver’s seat of the project and smack in the middle of the
crisis – he is having no respite even as he tries put on a bold face on the outside.
Mefy is human, too after all. He is deeply worried inside.
No one can say for sure whether the naira swap policy was politically motivated but what is
clear is that not enough new notes were printed and implementation of the policy has been
disastrous, inflicting pains and hardship on everyone.
Although the naira swap policy has the backing of President Muhammadu Buhari, what also
became evident was lack of stakeholder engagement. Initially, finance, budget and national
planning minister, Zainab Ahmed, denied knowledge of the naira redesign initiative during a
senate hearing in Abuja last year. She was not carried along.
The deadlines set for the policy also proved to be unrealistic and it has triggered a significant
pushback effort by different bodies and individuals – including the intervention of the Supreme
Court after some states challenged the policy.
The chorus everywhere is that the deadline should be extended; more new notes should be
printed abroad since our local agency does not have the capacity while the new and old naira
notes should be allowed side-by-side for transactions until such a time that we have enough of
the new notes in circulation.
Perhaps, Mefy did not expect the national outrage caused by the currency chaos in addition to
the lingering petrol scarcity. With the general elections in view, it was easy to suspect sabotage.
In a strongly-worded statement, Bayo Onanuga, the director of media and publicity of the APC
presidential campaign council (PCC) called for the sack of Emefiele as CBN governor “following
the uproar that trailed his controversial naira swap policy” and for “making Nigerians pass
through harrowing experiences and untold hardship in the past two weeks”.
If Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu wins the presidential election, what will happen to Mefy’s job?
Meanwhile, the CBN governor has also been having a running battle with the Department of
State Services (DSS). The secret policy accused Mefy of money laundering and financing
terrorism. These are weighty allegations that are still on the table, although in a Bloomberg
report, Emefiele’s defenders believe that politicians are targeting him because of the currency
reforms.
At a time like this, not many people will envy Emefiele. Even if he is a cat with nine lives, it is
dangerous to ride the back of a tiger except he has survival options.
These are indeed tough times for the banker from Agbor in Delta state – an area where you will
find his contemporaries and benefactors such as Jim Ovia, the Chairman of Zenith Bank.
General Lucky Irabor, Nigeria’s chief of defence staff and Nduka Obaigbena, media
entrepreneur, are his kith and kin from the Agbor axis.
Mefy, you are the one in the eye of the storm – not your friends or associates. Think of the
pressure on your family and the legacy you plan to leave behind which is already at stake. What
is your exit strategy?
You need to urgently print and deliver more cash into the hands of Nigerians before it is too late.
It is the only way to save the situation as we gradually migrate into a cashless society which is
your long term goal.
Braimah is a public relations strategist and publisher/editor-in-chief of Naija Times