Nigerians’ve lost confidence in Emefiele, CSOs insist

The Convener, Adopt a Goal Initiative, Dare Ariyo-Atoye; Coordinator, Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria, Emmanuel Onwubiko, have lampooned a group, CSOs Coordinating Centre, over their purported expulsion.

The group, which claimed to be the apex platform for CSOs, had on Tuesday announced the expulsion of the trio of Ariyo-Atoye, Onuwubiko and the National Coordinator, Advocate for People’s Rights and Justice, Giwa Victor, for advising the governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Godwin Emeifele against juggling politics with his exalted position.

But the group described their comments as an attack on Emeifele which was aimed at smearing his image.

The Centre’s Director, Mallam Abubakar Mohammed, in a statement in Abuja, said they were motivated “to smear Emefiele, and expel them from activities of the CSOs Coordinating Centre, which is an apex platform for all CSOs involved in public advocacy and ban them from attending any event that the CCC is part of for one year until they apologise for the smear attacks.

According to the statement, Mohammed expressed the hope that they would retrace their steps.

But in a swift reaction, Ariyo-Atoye said the CBN had been turned into a bazaar for political jobbers in the name of defending and campaigning for Emefiele for President.

He said, “It is shameful that the CBN and its governor have been deceived into believing that there is a platform called the CSOs Coordinating Centre that could be used to carry out a purported expulsion of notable CSO leaders for asking Mr Godwin Emefiele to resign and face his presidential campaign squarely.

“We are, however, undisturbed by the baseless attacks mounted by some hired goons who have been paid to cast aspersions on our persons; we sympathise with them because it is a trying time for our country.

We insist that Nigerians have lost confidence in Emefiele’s leadership of the CBN, and we shall not hesitate to mobilise the people to protect the institution of the CBN.

Also, in his reaction, Onwubiko described the members of the group as jobless clowns.

“A bunch of apparently jobless clowns some of whom are surviving by jumping from one government office to the other on a rampage to capture as much as possible the crumbs that fall off the masters table in Abuja, have just issued a very illiterate statement that is so illogical and irrational, saying that my humble self has been expelled from a so-called civil society coalition,” he added. Punch