IT’S OFFICIAL: CBN confirms Emefiele’s resignation — three months after suspension

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has officially confirmed the resignation of Godwin Emefiele as the governor of the apex bank.

This comes three months after the suspension of the erstwhile central bank governor.

Emefiele was suspended on June 9, 2023, by President Bola Tinubu, who also ordered a probe into his tenure as CBN governor.

He was appointed by Goodluck Jonathan, the former President, in February 2014.

Immediately after his suspension, Emefiele was arrested by the Department of State Services (DSS) and has since remained in their custody — as the federal government piled up charges against him.

On September 17, reports of Emefiele’s resignation emerged but the federal government has remained quiet on the issue until now.

In a statement on Friday, Isa AbdulMumin, CBN’s director of corporate communications, confirmed his resignation while announcing that Olayemi Cardoso has assumed office as the new acting governor of the CBN.

“Dr. Olayemi Michael Cardoso, recently nominated by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, has on Friday, September 22, 2023, formally assumed duty, in an acting capacity, as the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), pending his confirmation by the Senate,” the statement reads.

“This follows the resignation of Mr. Godwin Emefiele as Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).”

Prior to Cardoso’s nomination on September 15, Tinubu appointed Fola Shonubi to act in the absence of Emefiele and also appointed Jim Obazee – former head of the Financial Reporting Council of Nigeria – as a special investigator to probe Emefiele’s tenure.