President Bola Tinubu has suspended Godwin Emefiele as the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) governor.

“President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has suspended the Central Bank Governor, Mr Godwin Emefiele, CFR, from office with immediate effect,” the Director of Information, Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation Willie Bassey said in a Friday statement.

“This is a sequel to the ongoing investigation of his office and the planned reforms in the financial sector of the economy.

“Mr Emefiele has been directed to immediately hand over the affairs of his office to the Deputy Governor (Operations Directorate) [Folashodun Adebisi Shonubi], who will act as the Central Bank Governor pending the conclusion of the investigation and the reforms.”

The development is coming less than two weeks after President Tinubu assumed office and months after the CBN’s heavily-criticized naira swap.

Former President Muhammadu Buhari’s government introduced new bank notes late last year, arguing it would help tackle vote-buying, insecurity and fight inflation among others.

But weeks before the polls, the country was hit with a cash crunch as the CBN withdrew the old notes. The development drew criticisms from top personalities.

Some state governors even took the matter to court with Tinubu faulting the implementation of the policy.

As the then-presidential candidate of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), Tinubu asked the CBN to allow both old and new notes to coexist.

Tinubu said, he was “only concerned about its disruptive implementation and the hardship it has brought on the generality of our people who currently can’t access their hard-earned money to meet obligations and the attendant consequences on the informal sector, where the majority operate”.

In the lead-up to the presidential election, his campaign team claimed the move was targeted at Tinubu.

During his inauguration, President Tinubu did not mince words about the naira swap policy and promised to review it.

He maintained that it “was too harshly applied by the CBN given the number of unbanked Nigerians.

“The policy shall be reviewed. In the meantime, my administration will treat both currencies as legal tender”.

President Bola Tinubu has justified the removal of fuel subsidy, saying that the country cannot continue feeding smugglers and acting as Father Christmas to neighbouring countries.

He said this at an interactive session with the Royal Fathers under the aegis of the National Council of Traditional Rulers of Nigeria (NCTRN) at the Aso Villa on Friday, according to a statement by State House Director of Information, Abiodun Oladunjoye.

The President informed them of the decision to remove fuel subsidy, improve security, create jobs, and sustain the environment as well as the forthcoming election of principal officers of the 10th National Assembly.

‘‘I am grateful that you are paying attention to what I have been doing. You have paid attention to the subsidy removal. Why should we in good heart and sense, feed smugglers and be Father Christmas to neighbouring countries, even though they say not every day is Christmas?

‘‘The elephant that was going to bring Nigeria to its knees is the subsidy. A country that cannot pay salaries and we say we have the potential to encourage ourselves. I think we did the right thing,’’ he said.

Various speakers at the meeting expressed support for the subsidy removal, with the President appealing to the traditional leaders to persuade Nigerians to have faith and that the pump prices of fuel will eventually come down.

While acknowledging concerns about the need for critical infrastructure in different parts of the country, President Tinubu pledged that any roadblock in the way of the progress of the Nigerian people would be removed by his government.

‘‘The lamentations about the capital projects, where is the money going to come from if we don’t protect our resources and our boundaries?

‘‘You cannot have development without capital projects,’’ he added.

On the leadership of the National Assembly, the President urged the royal fathers to counsel their subjects interested in elective positions on the need to manage their ambitions and create harmony within the legislative house.

President Tinubu declared that he is ready to work with any elected representative from the National Assembly, stressing that the Nigeria project is of paramount importance to him.

‘‘Nigeria must survive. Nigeria must develop. Nigeria must make progress,’’ he said.

On security, the President reiterated his pledge to Nigerians to prioritise the sector until every Nigerian “goes to sleep with their two eyes closed.’’

He emphasized that the unity and togetherness of the country cannot be compromised, saying that every region of the country would get what it is due.

…..Yari, Abbo and Jimoh Ibrahim boycott meeting with The President

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President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has reiterated that his position and that of All Progressives Congress (APC) on the choice of Senators Godswill Akpabio and Jibrin Barau for the leadership position of the 10th Senate has not changed.

The President at a closed door meeting with Federal Legislators-elect in Abuja said the choice of Akpabio as Senate President will promote unity in the Country.

” The president of this country and his vice are of the Muslim faith, and it is natural and in the spirit of national unity and equity that the position of the Senate President be given to our christian citizens. We should not be seen to wanting to kill christianity in this country, ” he stressed.

President Tinubu used the occasion to congratulate all the Legislators- elect and expressed his desire and that of his administration to work with all of them in the 10th Assembly in the overriding public interest.

Sources at the meeting said former Governor of Zambara State, AbdulAziz Yari; Jimoh Ibrahim (Ondo) and Elisha Abbo (Adamawa) were absent from the Villa meeting.

While all other Legislators-Elect across line attended the meeting at the Presidential Villa.

It was however gathered that, shortly after the meeting, Senators-Elect Abdulaziz Yari, Jimoh Ibrahim and Elisha Abbo decided to confront the Tinubu administration by immediately calling for a counter meeting slated for 9pm today at the Fraiser Suites, Abuja.

The Notice of Meeting was signed by Senator Elisha Abbo, who became famous four years ago as ‘the Sex Toy Senator’ when the news of his slapping a young Girl at a Sex Toy shop in Abuja, went viral in public gatherings.