The Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Godwin Emefiele, on Monday, discontinued a suit he filed against the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and the Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF) over his presidential ambition.
Mr. Emefiele had, in his suit, sought an order restraining INEC and the AGF from disqualifying him from contesting for the presidential ticket of any political party ahead of the 2023 general elections.
But the judge, Ahmed Mohammed, on May 9, rejected Mr. Emefiele’s application for an interim order against the plaintiffs.
Instead, Mr. Mohammed ordered the defendants – INEC and AGF – to show cause why Mr. Emefiele’s request should not be granted.
At the last proceedings on May 12, the judge joined the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and two lawyers in the case as interested parties, despite an objection from the attorney-general.
Monday’s proceedings
At the sitting on Monday, the CBN governor’s lawyer, S.T. Maliki, told the judge that a notice of discontinuance had been filed and served on the five defendants in the suit.
“Under the instruction of the plaintiff (Emefiele), we filed a notice of discontinuance dated and filed May 16, 2022,” Mr. Maliki, who held the brief for Mike Ozekhome, Mr. Emefiele’s lead counsel, told the court while withdrawing the suit.
“And the said notice of discontinuance was served on all the defendants on that said date of May 16, 2022, which proof of service is before your lordship,” Mr. Maliki said.
Citing the rules of the Federal High Court, Mr. Maliki urged the court to discontinue the case and make an order striking it out.
However, the lawyer of the 4th defendant, John Aikpokpo-Martins, opposed Mr. Emefiele’s application to withdraw the suit and demanded N1.5 million cost against the CBN governor.
In a ruling, the judge said the CBN governor had the right to file the notice of discontinuance.
Subsequently, Mr. Mohammed struck out the suit.
Emefiele’s Ambition
It was earlier reported that Mr. Emefiele, who filed the main suit on May 5, argued that no law exempts him from contesting the primary election of a political party while holding office as a sitting CBN governor.
“The plaintiff is legally competent to contest the primaries of any political parties while still serving as the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, in so far as he gives 30 days’ notice of his resignation, withdrawal from the services of the CBN as its governor by the provisions of section 167 and 318 of the constitution,” the plaintiff’s lawyer said.
The CBN governor has been under pressure to relinquish his office since the information about his presidential ambition leaked to the public earlier this year.
After months of speculation, Mr. Emefiele finally spoke publicly about his ambition after a group purchased the N100 million presidential form of the ruling party, APC, for him.
He said although he had yet to decide to contest the presidential election, should he heed the call to run for the presidency, he would use his “own hard-earned savings from over 35 years of banking leadership to buy my Nomination Forms”.
In his suit confirming his political ambition, Mr. Emefiele sued INEC and the AGF and asked the court to restrain them from compelling him to resign as the CBN governor to run for office in 2023.
His lawyer, Mr. Ozekhome, expressed fears that INEC and the AGF are making “frantic efforts to disqualify” Mr. Emefiele “from participating in the presidential primaries scheduled for June 3, 2022, for not resigning from his office before the parties’ primaries.”
President Muhammadu Buhari later directed his appointees including Mr. Emefiele, seeking to contest for elective office, to resign from their positions.
Following the president’s directive, public condemnation of Mr. Emefiele’s actions, and the court’s refusal to grant his request Mr. Emefiele announced that he was dropping his ambition and would remain in office as CBN governor.
Many Nigerians have, however, called for his sack, saying he had become political and was no longer fit to head Nigeria’s central bank.
Credit: Premium Times
