Tony Elumelu reacts to report of being considered for CBN governor
The Chairperson of the United Bank for Africa (UBA), Tony Elumelu, has debunked a report that he is being considered for appointment as Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).
President Bola Tinubu had suspended Godwin Emefiele as the CBN governor on 9 June.
Emefiele, 10 June, was arrested at his home in Lagos by the State Security Service (SSS) and flown to Abuja for interrogations.
The SSS, on 25 July, arraigned him at a Federal High Court in Lagos for “illegal possession” of firearms and live ammunition.
However, in mid-August, the Nigerian government withdrew the initial charges of illegal possession of firearms and ammunition filed against Emefiele.
The government subsequently filed fresh 20 charges of conspiracy and procurement fraud against the suspended CBN governor.
Following the ongoing trial, Tinubu appointed Folashodun Shonubi, the CBN Deputy Governor (Operations Directorate) to oversee the affairs of the bank in acting capacity.
The president was also said to be shopping for a substantive CBN governor.
In June, Imran Muhammad, a member of the All Progressives Congress in a post via his X handle (formerly Twitter), claimed that Elumelu, the UBA chairperson, was being considered by Tinubu for appointment as a CBN governor.
But reacting to the post on Friday, Elumelu described the claim as “false news.”
“LOL. No, please. This is false news!” he wrote on the microblogging site in response to the claim.
Elumelu appears to have strong ties with Tinubu. On 7 March, six days after he was declared winner of the fiercely contested 25 February presidential election, Tinubu visited Elumelu at his residence.
“The last man standing!” Elumelu was heard repeatedly hailing Tinubu on arrival at his residence.
“He’s still standing,” Tinubu responded, grinning broadly towards Elumelu, who had already opened his arms to give him a warm embrace.
The then president-elect visited the bank chief alongside his son, Seyi.
“Seyi, you must be very proud of your father as he is proud of you. He’s a good man,” Elumelu said of Tinubu.
Also, Elumelu, on Tuesday, visited Tinubu at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
After the closed-door meeting at the Villa, Elumelu told reporters that his discussion with the president was “private.”
“It’s all about Nigerian people. It’s all about youths, it’s all about making sure our women are involved and empowered. It’s all about making sure our youths get jobs,” he simply said, without giving details of their discussion.
