Politics

APC Ward Chairman Confirms Emefiele As Party Members, Discloses Date He Registered

Published

4 years ago

May 9, 2022

The All Progressives Party Chairman of Ward 6 in the Ika South Local Government Area of Delta State, Mr Nduka Erikpume, has said the Central Bank of Nigeria Governor, Mr Godwin Emefiele, is a member of the party.

Erikpume, in a telephone chat with one of our correspondents on Sunday, said the CBN governor had registered as an APC member since February 2021.

When asked whether Emefiele had registered in the APC, Erikpume said, “Yes, he has registered since February 2021. He is our member.”

Emefiele’s alleged involvement in politics on Sunday attracted more strong condemnations, with senior lawyers and other eminent Nigerians calling for his immediate resignation.

Senior lawyers and top politicians, who spoke separately to The PUNCH, stated that Emefiele’s continuous stay as the CBN governor was dangerous to the economy.

Three interest groups – the Rice Farmers Association of Nigeria, Friends of Emefiele and Emefiele Support Group – last week paid N100m for the APC presidential expression of interest and nominations forms for Emefiele.

But the CBN governor, in a tweet on Saturday, said he was still waiting for God’s direction, adding that he would purchase the N100m forms himself if he entered the presidential race.

He said that he would continue to serve the country in his capacity as CBN governor until he received divine counsel to contest for a higher office.

A Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Kunle Adegoke, in a telephone with The PUNCH on Sunday, said the CBN governor should resign his appointment and become a politician if he intended to contest in the 2023 general elections.

He said, “The governor of the central bank is expected to be impartial and not be driven by his own personal interests or the interests of a political party. Emefiele, as the governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, represents all Nigerians and in that capacity, he is obliged under the constitution to serve each person irrespective of their political party or affiliation.

“With that evident, it would be grossly irresponsible for anybody to be agitating for the CBN governor to join politics. The CBN governor is not entitled as a citizen of Nigeria to contest for a political office, but where he desires to do so, he will have to resign his appointment and become a politician, strictly speaking.

“The honourable thing for him to do is to resign if he is the one behind all these calls for him to come and contest. Where he is not the one, he ought to have come out earlier than now because we could see on social media, the branded vehicles and then the claim that farmers have spent N100m to buy him a nomination form of the All Progressives Congress. That is questionable. The few farmers who are debtors under the Anchors Borrowers’ Programme cannot now be deploying their resources towards this.

“That also questions the integrity of funds and the whole ABP project. Emefiele is supposed to stay away from such things that will lead to unnecessary scandals.”

Another SAN, Babatunde Ogala, told The PUNCH that it was inappropriate for a CBN governor to be involved in politics, adding that Emefiele “should resign now or be removed.”

On whether it was within Emefiele’s rights to run for office, Ogala said, “That means Chairman of INEC (Independent National Electoral Commission), Chief of Army Staff and the Inspector-General of Police can also pick up forms and decide to run. It is immoral and a joke taken too far. He shouldn’t ridicule our country. Where is that done?

“The CBN governor, the one who is supposed to manage our treasury, is getting himself distracted by politics. It is inappropriate. Emefiele should resign now. If he wants to join politics, let him go into politics. He shouldn’t sit down as the head of the treasury and be talking politics when he should be concentrating. That means he’s a card-carrying member of a political party. It’s unacceptable.”

When brought to his notice that Emefiele is a card-carrying member of the APC, Ogala called for the immediate resignation of the CBN governor.

Politics

Obasanjo, Atiku, Obi Meet In Abuja

Published

18 hours ago

January 10, 2026

Editor

Former President Olusegun Obasanjo, former Vice President Atiku Abubakar and former Anambra State Governor Peter Obi met in Abuja on Saturday.

The trio were among prominent political figures who attended the Tambuwal Colloquium, titled “Leadership, Service and Statesmanship at 60,” held at the New Event Hall of the Transcorp Hilton Hotel, Abuja, in honour of the 60th birthday of former Sokoto State Governor and Senator, Aminu Waziri Tambuwal.

Atiku confirmed his presence at the event in a post on his X handle, stating that he had arrived at the venue for the colloquium organised to mark Tambuwal’s milestone birthday.

The former vice president also shared images of himself, Obasanjo and Obi at the event.

The event attracted political leaders, statesmen and stakeholders from across the country.

Politics

PANDEF Wades Into Rivers Crisis, Sets Up Seven-member Mediation Team

Published

1 day ago

January 10, 2026

Editor

The Pan Niger Delta Forum (PANDEF) has intervened in the political crisis in Rivers State, calling on all actors to sheathe their swords and embrace peace in the interest of the development of the state and the region in general.

Expressing concern that the political disagreement involving the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Minister, Mr Nyesom Wike, Governor Siminalayi Fubara and the State House of Assembly might degenerate to total lawlessness, the Board and National Executive Committee of PANDEF set up a seven-member reconciliation team to resolve the issues.

The team, which is headed by a former Attorney-General of the Federation, Chief Kanu Agabi, has six other members.

They are Senator Obende Domingo (Vice Chairman); Chief Essien Nduese; Dr Timiebi Koripamo-Agari; Chief Mike Ejiofor; Mrs Nella Rabana-Andem, SAN; and Prince Godwin Okotie, the Deputy National Secretary of PANDEF, who will serve as the secretary of the team.

Politics

Wike: Why Removing Fubara Will Be Difficult – Ex-Commissioner

Published

2 days ago

January 9, 2026

Editor

A former Rivers State Commissioner for Information and Communication, Austin Tam-George, has said that attempts to impeach Governor Siminalayi Fubara would be difficult to sustain, citing what he described as the governor’s performance record and the lack of concrete allegations against him.

Tam-George made the remarks on Thursday while speaking on Prime Time on Arise Television, arguing that the impeachment process being initiated against Fubara was to scuttle his chance for a second term.

According to him, Governor Fubara has continued to place the needs of the people at the centre of his administration, with visible interventions in rural development, housing, education and healthcare.

He said this, in his view, has made it difficult for opponents to justify moves to remove the governor from office.

Tam-George also called on the All Progressives Congress, APC, to intervene, arguing that the party should not allow what he described as the humiliation of a sitting governor.

He said: “Well, all I think he needs to do is to do exactly what he’s been doing from the beginning, which is to place the people at the center of gravity of his administration, prioritize the needs of the people, so that the people can see the direct impact of government action in their lives.

“And that’s exactly what he’s doing in terms of rural development, in terms of housing sector transformation, which I mentioned that he is doing the same in education sector and in health.

“So if he continues, if he persists in placing the people’s need at the center of focus of his administration, there is no way they are going to be able to justify this kind of shenanigans.

“Because, if you look very carefully at the so called articles of impeachment, you will see that there is no specificity in terms of any infraction by the governor or his deputy.

“What they are trying to do is to make sure they scuttle the administration so that the governor doesn’t then get to the point where he will be seeking a second term.

“Let me be clear, just two days ago, Nyesom Wike was at one of the local governments, and he made it clear in a moment of epiphany, he made it clear that, look, if Governor Fubara were to get a second term in office, it will amount to his own political burial.

“So all of these things that we are seeing the so called impeachment proceedings they’ve initiated, it’s actually an effort to try to scuttle the prospects of the governor coming for a second term, and I don’t see how they will succeed.

“If you look at the so called articles of impeachment, as I said, they lack specificity in terms of the kind of infraction that they allege that the governor has committed. He has done nothing wrong, and they will see how the process will play out.

“My sense, and in fact, if I were to advise the governor, my sense is that he should just maintain the people, retain the people at the center of gravity of his administration, meet their needs, run a transparent administration as he always done, and then the truth will come out, and he will be able to defend the administration.

“I think the the governing APC should also step in because they can’t possibly allow the governor of the office with probably one of the best performance records in the country to be humiliated by some of these members of the assembly.”