Nigeria Patriot Quest (NPQ) has urged the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Mr. Godwin Emefiele to join the race for the presidential seat.

The group in a statement made available to Flavision by its Co-coordinator, Ahmed Tijani, said they would continue to make the call because Nigeria is now at a crossroads and would require the care and nurture of a man like Emefiele to take the country to the promised land of rapid development.

This just is another group, The Centre for Integrity and Good Governance (CIGG), has demanded the adoption of Emefiele as the presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the 2023 elections.

CIGG, in a press statement issued by its Convener, Mr. Waheed Aderibigbe and Co-convener, Mr. Obinna Ukariaku, congratulated Alhaji Abdullahi Adamu on his emergence through consensus as the National Chairman of the APC. It urged Adamu and the APC leadership to chart a new path in the recruitment process of the party’s flagbearer in the 2023 Presidential election by overlooking those it called “professional politicians”, all of whom have failed the nation in the past.

Speaking on the reasons for calling for Emefiele to run for the presidency, the NPQ noted in the past two decades, Nigerians have entrusted their fate in the hands of professional politicians with barely anything to show for it.

If we must be honest to ourselves, we can say without any fear of contradiction, which the professional politicians have succeeded in running the nation aground. We have witnessed a relay race of politicians handing over the baton of leadership from one uneventful administration to the other. Our patience is totally exhausted,

the group said.

NPQ averred that the country requires a new shift in leadership from the old to the new, noting that the people are not carried away by the rhetorics of the old brigade who are now cat-walking the national walkways in order to sell to the citizenry their expired recipes.

The statement hinted that it is time for the nation to support and encourage the emergence of a new type of leadership.

NPQ remarked that the citizenry yearns for the advent of the servant leader, who is there to serve and not to be served and celebrated, adding that Nigeria needs leaders who are ready to get their hands dirty in order to wash away the dross of over 50 years of misrule.

The group said they believe that Emefiele falls squarely into the mold of leadership that the nation deserves at this time.

NPQ said:

We have watched, with great admiration, his dexterous and self-effacing management of the affairs of the CBN.

We are astonished by the skillful manner with which the CBN intervened in the major sectors of the economy: agriculture, finance, and industries.

Only recently, as Nigeria is once again enmeshed in the man-made tragedy of fuel scarcity and power failures, we read of his intention to use the instruments of the CBN to try and bring succour to our long suffering compatriots. This is the hallmark of a leader.

What distinguishes a great leader from others, is his ability to proffer solutions; that capacity to visualise and pursue relentlessly the vision that things could and would be better.

If Godwin can make all these positive impact as the Governor of CBN, which is just a department in the huge edifice of governance, how much more if he becomes the President of the country.

We have said it repeatedly that the professional politicians, some of whom have become permanent fixtures of government in the past 20 years or more, with little or nothing to show for it, should respectfully step back and allow the new leadership to emerge.

As a nation moves from one challenge to the other, it must evolve the right strategy to overcome those difficulties.We have arrived at the point where the old solutions have failed woefully.

Therefore, it is time to try the new and we, humbly assert, that Emefiele is in the vanguard of the new solutions.

Nigeria, at this time, needs a leader with a track record of achievements in management, entrepreneurship, and economy and has the right exposure to seat at the same table with the leading lights of the global economy.

Nigerians! it is time for us to throw away the limiting baggage of ethnic, religious, and money politics and embrace a new way of doing things, if not for our sake but for the sake of our children’s children. The 2023 elections offers us a golden opportunity to begin the journey of repentance and recovery. We simply cannot afford to repeat the errors of the past.

Meanwhile, reacting to a call by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) for Emefiele’s resignation, NPQ said that after reading through the press release by the PDP Publicity Secretary, it was forced to assert that these are the products of a mischievous and over-excited imagination.

We are shocked by the deliberate distortion of facts and indeed by the ignoble attempt to deceive the public, through the countless repetition of empty allegations. Our interest in this matter is based on the fact that we are a prominent campaigner for Emefiele to be part of the presidential contest come 2023. We owe no one any apology for this, and we will continue to affirm that Emefiele is the type of leader that this nation needs now,

NPQ said.

According to the group, it was surprised that a National Publicity Secretary of PDP will at this time believe that running down Emefiele is the best way to re-energise their ineffective opposition politics of the past seven years.

We are convinced that the publicity secretary may be serving the interests of some puppeteers, who may not necessarily be members of the PDP, who feel threatened by the ever-rising profile of the CBN Governor.

The baselessness of these allegations is underlined by the fact that at no time has Emefiele declared himself to be a presidential candidate of the APC. To further expose this hatchet job for what it is, there is no single poster of Emefiele with the insignia of APC on it.

In order to emphasise the ridiculousness of Ologunagba’s assertions, the poster he presented in his press release to support his allegation bears no APC symbol or logo on it. This is the efforts of a man who is ready to concoct all sorts of lies in order to achieve his preconceived objectives. Perhaps, he was emboldened by the assumption that Nigerians will not take the time to verify his empty allegations.

The fact remains that Godwin Ifeanyichukwu Emefiele never appeared in any APC poster till date.

We dare say, that if any such poster appears overnight starting from now, it will be the handiwork of Mr. Ologunagba and his cohorts, who knowing that they have been exposed, may resort to producing such materials in order to cover their shame.

The very unfounded basis of his major allegations against Emefiele has also put the lie to all other accusations in his press release.

Emefiele in his position as CBN governor, to all objective observers, have performed his duties with a great sense of patriotism, dedication and none partisanship. Indeed, the benefits of the CBN’s economic interventions and policies cut across political or geographical boundaries.

This is the main reason why his efforts have been acclaimed across the country; and this is why we and a generality of citizens believe that he is the most suitable candidate for the post of president come 2023.

All the other financial allegations spewed out in the press release are indeed laughable and are products of a man who does not understand the structure and operations of the CBN.

We believe that the time has come when some of these fabricators of lies and mischief should be brought, as individuals before the law, in order to substantiate their reckless allegations or suffer the consequences of these brazen attempts to soil the reputation of an innocent man.

The NPQ said it remained undaunted in its support of the candidacy of Emefiele in the 2023 elections and

we strongly reiterate our position that Godwin Ifeanyichukwu Emefiele should answer this call of destiny at this time for the betterment of both the present and future generations of Nigeria.

The antics of the naysayers will never deter us, rather it increases our determination to accomplish this patriotic duty.

Those who are afraid of the candidacy of Emefiele because of the positives and possibilities that it holds for Nigeria should know that the end has come for their politics of divisiveness and plunder,

NPQ declared.

Meanwhile, explaining the reasons for calling on APC to adopt Emefiele as its candidate, CIGG said:

We have carefully studied the list of contenders for the party’s presidential ticket and we have noticed a consistent trend: they are all career politicians or persons who had in the last seven years or more been directly involved in the politics and governance of the country. Without prejudice to the competency, capacity and the right of these individuals to aspire to lead the nation, we wish to state in very clear terms that Nigeria needs a break from these persons. Nigeria Presidency needs a breath of fresh air, it needs the impact and influence of a successful professional, technocrat or business person whose career path is a kaleidoscope of success, innovation, vision and ideas capable of herding the nation’s socio-economic ship into the shores of prosperity.

It is on this note that we are proposing the adoption of Mr. Godwin Emefiele, the current Governor of Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN). We are aware that no one can pick or be given the ticket of a political party unless such a person is a member of that party. In the case of Emefiele who has not hidden his apolitical disposition, our Centre has concluded arrangement to compel him to join a political party, particularly, the ruling APC.

Nigeria as we know her today requires the services of a professional, a seasoned technocrat, not a career politician. Many advanced economies have had the fortune of having former professionals as their leaders. We recall that Emmanuel Macron of France was a former staff of the French Finance Ministry before he stepped into his country’s political space. Ditto for Mark Rutte of The Netherlands who made a successful working career at Unilever before fate thrust him into politics. We have not forgotten the story of Boris Johnson, British Prime Minister, who was an accomplished journalist and later Editor of The Spectator magazine before he took a dive into politics.

Emefiele, an accomplished banker and finance guru, would be walking the path of these great world leaders who distinguished themselves in their chosen professions before they were drafted into politics where their expertise and skills in their previous stations have helped to transform the economies of their countries. Nigeria at this time needs transformational and pragmatic leadership and only Emefiele among those angling for the job of President, can offer such leadership.

According to them, President Muhammadu Buhari’s major heart’s cry was a sustainable diversification of the nation’s economy.

Among the various actors in the Buhari government, only Emefiele has been able to translate this dream to reality in agriculture. Emefiele remains the Best CBN Governor in the promotion and sustenance of economic diversification. Through the multi-sectoral interventions by CBN under Emefiele’s watch, Nigeria has improved her non-oil export, increased local production and yield in agriculture, empowered young Nigerians to play active roles in the agro-business value chain. Under the Anchor Borrowers’ Programme, ABP, alone, CBN has created over 12 million jobs in agriculture, and the number is still growing.

The fall of the naira at the forex market has been noticeable since the advent of the IMF-led Structural Adjustment Programme (SAP) in 1986, and the introduction of the Second Tier Foreign Exchange Market (SFEM). Since then, the Naira has been on a free fall. This economic hemorrhage was arrested by Emefiele’s courage to stop non-funding of the importation of over 40 items, a tough decision on the basis of which he became a subject of blackmail.

But for Emefiele, Nigeria would have been wasting scarce forex to import rice, wheat and other farm produce all of which are today being produced in commercial quantity in the country.

The President Nigeria needs in 2023 must be innovative and one who is endowed with the capacity to recognize the creative energies inherent in Nigerian youths and help them to channel such energies to productive ventures. Emefiele as Central Bank Governor has shown a strong bias towards youth empowerment. As President, he will be in a vantage position to guide the nation’s youth to become creators of wealth and builders of values in an emerging new Nigeria.

Should APC refuse to adopt Emefiele as its consensus presidential candidate, we have already set in motion a machinery to stage a protest in Lagos, New York and London to raise a global consciousness and to compel the APC to heed our advice. We cannot continue to recycle the same set of politicians. Now is the time to embrace the real change – the 21st Century change,

the group said.

Justin Nwosu

Justin Nwosu is the founder and publisher of Flavision. His core interest is in writing unbiased news about Nigeria in particular and Africa in general. He’s a strong adherent of investigative journalism, with a bent on exposing corruption, abuse of power and societal ills.