The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Governor, Godwin Emefiele, has picked the 2023 presidential nomination form of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), after paying the mandatory N100 million.
A source within the APC said that Emefiele’s payment of N100 million for the nomination and expression of interest forms was confirmed by the Finance Department of the party after which the form was released to him Friday 6 May 2022.
The news had barely broken Friday, when the naira experienced a further decline to the dollar and is now trading at N800.
Emefiele’s decision to run for the office of the president in 2023 follows months of speculations regarding political aspirations of the Agbor, Delta State-born former Managing Director of Zenith Bank.
Emefiele had, in response to reports that he would vie for Nigeria’s number one office, asked speculators not to draw him in, as he would rather focus on fixing Nigeria’s monetary policies and aligning them with federal government’s fiscal policies.
Not minding his position on the matter, speculations have been rife that Nigeria’s number one banker is being primed by some political interests to run for the office, an offer he has found difficult to resist.
An economist, Emefiele has been CBN governor since June 4, 2014.
Born 4 August 1961 in Lagos State, Nigeria, he hails from Ika South, Agbor region of Delta State.
Emefiele attended Ansar Udin Primary School and Maryland Comprehensive Secondary both in Lagos, before proceeding to the University of Nigeria, Nsukka (UNN) for his tertiary education.
He obtained a Bachelor’s Degree in banking and finance, finishing as one of the top students in his class, in 1984.
Soon after his National Youth Service, Emefiele returned to UNN for a Master’s Degree in finance, which he obtained in 1986. He is also an alumnus of Executive Education at Stanford University, Harvard University (2004) and Wharton School of Business (2005). He was conferred with an Honorary Doctorate Degree in Business Administration by UNN.
