Emefiele: Urging Tinubu not to be vindictive

By Isaac Asabor

In my view, it is high time the newly sworn-in president eschewed the predilection to being vindictive against those perceived to have opposed his presidential aspiration, particularly during the period of his campaign ahead of the last presidential election where he was pronounced the winner by the leadership of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

It is not an exaggeration to say that not a few people and groups have condemned the suspension and arrest of Mr. Godwin Emefiele, Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, (CBN), and saying that the leadership of the All Progressives Congress (APC) is leveraging the position of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to pursue vindictive politics against political opponents.

For instance, a community-based organization, Concerned Citizens of Agbor Initiative also known as Concerned Agbor Citizens (CAC), has in strong terms condemned his suspension and arrest.

The group in a Press Release, signed by Mr. Echi Obue and Mr. Williams Eghebi, Chairman and Secretary respectively, said the Department of State Security (DSS), should be bold enough to tell Nigerians the script they are playing.

In a similar vein, based on a newsgathering exercise carried out from a publication titled “LP faults Emefiele’s suspension, says it’s vindictive, unconstitutional” dated June 10, 2023, and published in the Vanguard newspaper, the leadership of the Labour Party (LP) has faulted his suspension and arrest and described the President’s action as vindictive and unconstitutional. The position of the opposition party was made public by the Acting National Publicity Secretary of the party, Obiora Ifoh, in Abuja, on Saturday.

He said the Labour Party “Is disturbed by the decision of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to suspend/sack the Governor of the Central Bank, Godwin Emefiele, albeit unconstitutionally without seeking the permission of the national assembly and we insist that the action was not in good taste and sounds punitive.

“Mr. President has the right to ask the CBN governor to resign, same way, Nigerians have the right to ask him or anyone to resign.

“However, he does not have the powers to do so. Having a right is one thing, having the power is another. Many have asked Mr. President to resign but lack the powers to compel him to do so,” Femi Gbajabiamila, the (then) minority leader of the House of Representatives, had said on January 13, 2014.

“Drawing inspiration from what Femi Gbajabiamila, then Minority Leader, had said years ago (as quoted above) over a similar situation when President Goodluck Jonathan sacked former CBN Governor, Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, wherein he questioned the powers of the President in sacking the CBN Governor.

“The opposition leader made it clear that the President lacks powers under the laws of the land to sack the CBN boss. One wonders what has changed between that time and now.

“Femi Gbajabiamila is the current Speaker of the House of Representatives and also holds the enviable portfolio as the Chief of Staff to President Tinubu.

“He had then argued that the law requires the President to seek the approval of two third of the Senate to be able to sack the CBN Governor.

“Reasons being essentially to enforce the doctrine of Checks and Balances and to avoid the abuse of powers of a capricious and arbitrary President, while at the same time guaranteeing the autonomy of the CBN.

“But under Gbajabiamila’s watch, Emefiele was fired in a most unconstitutional and vindictive manner.

“It is only in Nigeria that we find people that approbate and reprobate at the same time. People say one thing from one side of their mouth and another from the other side, especially when it favours them politically and otherwise.

“That explains why the country is in shamble: no rule of law, no equity, no justice, and no fair play. People don’t follow standard rules and procedures.

“That is why every aspect of our lives, be it our economic, political and social lives, is challenged.

Because he was in the opposition at that time, Gbajabiamila saw everything wrong with President Jonathan sacking Sanusi, today, he is on the other side of the divide, and he doesn’t see anything wrong with it.

“This is what Nigerians will face in the APC government, where perceived enemies are dealt with, perceive opposition parties and their members are dealt with, even when they are protected by the law.”

The LP Spokesman further said, “Most Nigerians will not forget in a hurry the famous Naira redesign policy initiated by Emefiele primarily to check vote buying in the last general election.

“A noble policy which a particular candidate then, unfortunately, believed was targeted at him. To him, it was a mortal sin which cannot be forgiven and must be punished. Labour Party believes that Emefiele, a fall guy, is paying for his “sin”.

“The government said the suspension of Emefiele is “sequel to the ongoing investigation of his office and the planned reforms in the financial sector of the economy.”

Ifoh equally said, “It is laughable to read that statement as most Nigerians are already aware of the intention of the government.

“If indeed, there is any government agency that should be investigated with this utmost urgency, should it not be the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC and its Chairman, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu?

“This is the institution that is responsible for the mockery of our democracy. This is an institution which asked and received N355 billion in taxpayers’ money to conduct, the worst-ever election in the history of Nigeria and in Sub-Saharan Africa.

“This is an election umpire that has shamelessly chosen to be partisan during and after the election, even at the tribunal.

“We urge the APC-led government to carry out a thorough investigation of the CBN and particularly, the last APC government’s interference in the operation of the apex bank.

“Nigerians will not tolerate political and peripheral investigation. We suggest a forensic auditing by an independent firm and by so doing, maybe the real culprits, not just Emefiele will be unearthed.”

Against the foregoing backdrop, it is expedient to say that most of us have heard the phrase, “An eye for an eye,” which refers to the idea that people should be punished according to the way in which they offended. While many of us have succumbed to feelings of vengeance and vindictiveness at one time or another, research shows that the outcomes of vindictive acts are not always in our best interest. As Gandhi reportedly explained, “An eye for an eye only ends up making the whole world blind.” Let’s explore what vindictiveness is, why it emerges, and how to transform it into constructive actions.

Besides the foregoing facts, prevailing public opinion over the suspension and arrest of Emefiele indicates that Emefiele is been witch-hunted by the newly inaugurated President Tinubuled government.

For the sake of clarity, it is expedient to say that vindictiveness is the calculating desire to hurt someone perceived to have wronged us. A person who is vindictive holds grudges and builds cases against others to justify vengeful acts. In some cases, vindictiveness is associated with narcissism. Various triggers can cause vindictiveness to emerge, but most of the time it is a result of unexpressed anger. This is especially true for those of us who grew up in households where anger was not a welcome emotion, but a silenced one.

At this juncture, it is germane to cite a research made on the act of vindictiveness which says it does not lead to relief as it may result in the feeling of power and superiority, and disappointedly the triumph is usually short-lived. In a study by David Chester, a Virginia Commonwealth University professor who studies human aggression, participants who committed vengeful acts felt good in the midst of these acts, but when researchers checked in five minutes, 10 minutes and 45 minutes later, the participants actually reported feeling worse than they did before they sought revenge.

Traditionally, a victorious president should at all times be confident in expressions of victory. As the winner, he should always look forward, offering a vision for his presidency while also looking back at the journey just completed, and perhaps offering an olive branch to his aggrieved opponents.

To cut this opinion article short, it is expedient to make reference to when President Obama painted a bigger picture of the American dream in his inaugural speech and urge him to bring such spirit of oneness and togetherness into practicality in Nigeria. As expressed in the speech, Obama focused on individual beliefs that he hoped were common to all Americans.

He asserted, “But despite all our differences, most of us share certain hopes for America’s future. We believe in a generous America, in a compassionate America, in a tolerant America open to the dreams of an immigrant’s daughter who studies in our schools and pledges to our flag, to the young boy on the south side of Chicago who sees a life beyond the nearest street corner, to the furniture worker’s child in North Carolina who wants to become a doctor or a scientist, an engineer or an entrepreneur, a diplomat or even a president. That’s the future we hope for. That’s the vision we share”.

Isaac Asabor is a Public Policy Analyst.