The Governor, Central Bank of Nigeria, Godwin Emefiele, has not resigned from the apex bank, it has been learnt.
There had been speculations on Monday that President Muhammadu Buhari had asked the apex bank boss to proceed on terminal leave to last for three months which would ultimately lead to his exit from the apex bank.
Emefiele has been Governor of the CBN since June 3, 2014. His appointment is for a period of five years which is renewable if the president so wish.
But multiple sources at the CBN confided in our correspondent that Emefiele still remained the governor of the CBN.
One of the sources, who is a very senior official in the CBN, told our correspondent on Monday night that as of 7:15 pm that the CBN governor was still in the office and that there was no truth in the online reports.
The official said if it was true that the apex bank’s boss had proceeded on terminal leave, the planned meeting scheduled to hold between him and the stakeholders in the cotton industry on Tuesday (today) by 10 am at the headquarters of the apex bank would have been cancelled.
He said, “It is not true that Emefiele was asked to go on terminal leave by the President. As we speak now, the governor is in his office working. So there is no truth in it because the governor is even scheduled to meet with stakeholders in the cotton value chain by 10 am in his office on Tuesday. Would he had held such meetings if he was asked to leave?”
Emefiele can be reappointed as the CBN governor based on the discretion of the president and the approval of the national assembly.
Section 10 of the CBN Act prescribes that “the Governor and Deputy Governors shall be appointed in the first instance for a term of five years and shall each be eligible for re-appointment for another term not exceeding five years”.