Release Emefiele now, Pastor Bakare tells Tinubu

The Serving Overseer of the Citadel Global Community Church, Pastor Tunde Bakare has urged president Bola Tinubu to release the suspended Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Governor, Godwin Emefiele.

He specifically told the president not to use Emefiele as a scapegoat for whatever happened to the nation’s monetary policy under his watch.

Emefiele was widely criticised over his handling of the apex bank affairs, particularly on the area of scarcity of money a few days to the 2023 presidential election.

He was adamant in implementing the naira swap policy despite the hardship faced by the people.

However, Bakare, who made this known on Sunday during the State of the Nation address on in his church where he bore his mind on recent developments in the country was of the opinion that that Emefiele should be prosecuted if found guilty of any wrongdoing.

“Mr Godwin Emefiele may have made the wrong judgement calls in the management of Nigeria’s monetary policy, but he must not be made a scapegoat.

“In the provisions of the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN Act 2007, there is every possibility that the erstwhile central bank governor did not act without presidential authorization.

“If Emefiele is found liable for any crime, by all means, he should be prosecuted. However, considering the dynamics of the pre-election environment and the then-candidate Bola Tinubu’s public allegation that the naira redesign policy was targeted at him, the optics of the president targeting Emefiele for prosecution after winning the election and being sworn in as the president could be interpreted as a form of vendetta far beneath such a distinguished office,” Bakare said