Governor of the Central Bank on Nigeria, Godwin Emefiele has dumped the All Progressives Congress in favour of Labour Party while making a mammoth donation of #500 million naira in a bid to scuttle APCs chances of victory in the forthcoming Gubernatorial Elections in Lagos.
Following the victory of President-elect Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu at the polls, Emefiele has seemingly resorted to hampering the chances of the APC in the coming elections for State and State Houses of Assembly. In an exclusive report by The Nation, Godwin Emefiele was alleged to have ramped up a cash sum of ₦500 million to fund the campaign of the Lagos State Labour Party in the upcoming governorship elections.
The CBN governor who currently faces heavy criticism over the unending Naira scarcity in Nigeria was also said to have secured the services of high military officials to ensure Tinubu’s party, the APC, does not win the Lagos governorship race.
It was only some few months back that that Godwin Emefiele had contested unsuccessfully for the presidential ticket of the APC, a move many Nigerians described as illegal and politicisation of the country’s treasury.
The CBN which Emefiele is controlling served as the main banker of the Federal government and undertakes most of the Federal Government banking businesses within and outside the country.
Sources told The Nation that the cash bonanza is intended to give undue advantage to the LP candidate, Mr. Gbadebo Rhodes-Vivour, over the two other major contestants – incumbent Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu of the APC and Mr. Olajide Adediran of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), whose campaign and mobilisation have been seriously affected by the cash squeeze caused by Emefiele’s Naira redesign policy.
Besides, Emefiele, who hails from Delta North, is said to be an enthusiastic promoter of the “Igbo agenda” to install “our own in Alausa come May 29”.
To perfect the plot, the cooperation of a senior military officer in command position in Lagos, is said to have been secured by Emefiele.
The commander, the sources said, is expected to provide “military muscle” to the “agenda” to take over Lagos.
He was said to have similarly played a “spoiler role” on February 25 by deliberately deploying troops to provide “cover” for the massive rigging in Ajah, Lekki areas in favour of LP’s Obi.
The commander also allegedly provided “cover” for the massive rigging reported in Amuwo-Odofin, Ojo, Alaba and Iba areas. For instance, troops at his behest, reportedly “detained” the Oniba of Ibaland in his palace, ostensibly to “prevent him from being able to mobilise his people to vote Tinubu”. Troops similarly invaded the palace of Elegushi in Ikateland and openly brutalised APC supporters in viral videos. Oba Saheed Elegushi is known to be a staunch Tinubu supporter.
The latest secret cash largesse to the LP candidate’s campaign is coming at a time many Nigerians groan under acute cash scarcity as daily languish in endless queues at banking halls and ATM centres across the country without being able to access their savings, despite a Supreme Court order on March 3 mandating the revalidation of the N200, N500 and N1,000 notes till December 31, 2023.