Godwin Emefiele, the governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has been dragged into a controversy that is not monetary policy related, while economists and financial analysts remain sharply divided over his choice of monetary policies. Different NGOs have clashed over whether he should retain his job at the CBN because of allegations that he agreed to the secret recruitments to the CBN of the relatives of politically well-connected individuals in the APC without first advertising the positions as required by law.

Some of the beneficiaries of this recent secret recruitment, which was leaked by an online media, include: a nephew of President Buhari; the daughter of former vice president Atiku Abubakar; the son of Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Ibe Kachikwu; the daughter of Police Inspector-General, Solomon Arase; and a son of Minister of Internal Affairs, Abdulrahman Danbazzau.

Many think that he did so in order to carry favour with the APC and also save his job though the CBN’s Director of Communication Isaac Okorafor said that the bank did nothing illegal. It apparently received a waiver from the Federal Character Commission — which is charged with ensuring that recruitment into public offices are fair to all parts of Nigeria — to carry out the recruitment. The presidency is yet to comment on the controversy, which comes at a time when the latest figures from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) shows that the unemployment rate hit a new high of 10.4% in the fourth quarter of 2015. Many Nigerians see the CBN situation as political bigwigs using their privilege position to get jobs for their children, while many Nigerians remain jobless.

Different civil society groups have taken opposite views on the revelations about the secret appointments. While some have called for the resignation of the governor, others led by the coalition of civil societies of Nigeria have attacked those calling for his resignation. This is because it claims that they are interested parties seeking to remove him over his policies including the ban of 41 items, and the refusal to devalue the Naira, which they argue would be beneficial to the economy.

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