The Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Godwin Emefiele, has filed a suit before a Federal High Court in Abuja over the alleged plan to disqualify him from the 2023 presidential primaries slated for the end of May.
Emefiele, through his counsel, Chief Mike Ozekhome (SAN), also prayed Justice Ahmed Mohammed to stop the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) from taking any action against him in the bid to contest in the presidential primaries by virtue of his office.
The CBN governor made the prayers in an ex-parte motion dated and filed on May 9 by Ozekhome, seeking an order of maintenance of status quo ante bellum pending the hearing and determination of the substantive suit.
While INEC is the 1st defendant, the Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF) is the 2nd defendant in the suit.
Moving the motion, Ozekhome said though his client had not told him under which political party he would love to contest, the application became necessary in order for the court to determine the constitutionality of his (Emefiele’s) decision.
“The plaintiff is a current governor of CBN. He desires to run for the office of president of Nigeria in the election coming up in 2023.
“But he is in a dilemma whether he can run. Can he run? If he can run, when must he leave office as CBN governor?
“We want the interpretation of the law as it is today,” he said.
He argued that Emefiele, by virtue of Section 318 of the 1999 Constitution, is a public servant.
He said that only political appointees are caught with Section 84(12) of the Electoral Act, 2022, which he said had been struck down by a Federal High Court sitting in Umuahia in Abia.
According to him, the matter is currently on appeal and the Court of Appeal has not come up with a decision.
“Even if the Court of Appeal upturn that judgement, is the plaintiff a political appointee? Our answer is no,” he said.
He argued further that Emefiele is only bound by Section 137 which says that a public officer shall resign from office not later than 30 days before election.
“This is the constitution and we seek constitutional interpretation of this matter,” he said.
But in his ruling, Justice Mohammed did not grant the motion.
Rather, he adjourned the matter until May 12 for ruling.
The judge made an order directing the INEC and AGF to appear on Thursday by noon why Emefiele’s prayers should not be granted.
He ordered that all the applications, including the ex-parte, filed in the course of the matter be served on all the defendants.
He also directed that hearing notices be issued to the defendants to appear on the said date to show cause why the prayers should not be granted.
READ ALSO: 2023: Emefiele rejects APC presidential forms bought for him
The Star had reported that three interest groups, the Rice Farmers Association of Nigeria (RIFAN), Friends of Emefiele, and Emefiele Support Group, on Friday, obtained the Expression of Interest and Nomination Forms of the All Progressives Congress (APC) valued at N100 million for Emefiele to run for the 2023 presidency.
The purchase of the N100 million APC presidential nomination forms was however greeted with wide condemnations, including the main opposition party, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), and the Ondo State Governor, Rotimi Akeredolu, who called for the sack of the CBN Governor if he failed to resign.
Governor Akeredolu, who described Emefiele’s interest in the 2023 presidency as “a joke taken too far”, asked President Muhammadu Buhari to sack the CBN Governor if he refused to resign.
In his reaction, Emefiele rejected the APC presidential nominations form bought for him to vie for the presidential ticket of the APC ahead of the 2023 general election.
The CBN Governor, who reacted via a series of tweets on his verified Twitter handle on Saturday, said that, should he decide to contest the 2023 presidential election, he would use his own hard-earned savings from over 35 years of banking leadership to buy his own presidential nomination forms.
He noted that he would make a decision on the calls to contest the next year’s presidential election in a few days, adding that it is a serious decision that requires God’s Divine intervention.
Some legal practitioners and critics, however, argued that Emefiele was unfit to contest the 2023 presidential election going by Section 84 (12) of the Electoral Act.
The section read: “No political appointee at any level shall be a voting delegate or be voted for at the convention or congress of any political party for the purpose of the nomination of candidates for any election.”
It would be recalled that INEC had given political parties a deadline of June 3, 2022, to submit their candidates for the 2023 general election.
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