Three interest groups have allegedly picked the presidential nomination form of the All Progressives Congress (APC) for Godwin Emefiele, governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), TheCable understands.
The development may have ended weeks if speculations and denials.
Insiders claimed Emefiele was not in the know if the development, which analysts say may generate a lot of controversy in the weeks to come.
Although, details are still sketchy but APC insiders told TheCable that the three groups — rice farmers, “Emefiele Support Group” and “Friends of Godwin Emefiele” — picked the form on Friday at the International Conference Centre (ICC) in Abuja.
The expression of interest goes for N30 million while the nomination is N70 million.
MetroBusinessNews contacted one of the CBN governor's spokespersons, but no response up to the time of writing this report.
However, the general belief is that if Emefiele is going to contest, he would most likely buy the form himself
“I’m aware three groups picked the form for him,” the source told TheCable, but volunteered little details, only adding that “he is yet to take a final decision”.
There has been speculation for months on the likelihood of the nation’s chief central banker joining the presidential race and this has divided opinion.
While his critics believe that he should not play politics and focus on his CBN job, his supporters insist he is well qualified for the job.
It would be recalled that a coalition of commodity associations in Nigeria had resolved to raise the N100 million needed to purchase the presidential expression of interest and nomination forms for the CBN Governor ahead of 2023 general elections.
They said the decision was reached having realized that the CBN governor is one of the trusted and tested Nigerians that have the commitment and competence to protect the interests of farmers across the country and give priority to commodity and agricultural value chain.
The leaders of the commodity associations arrived at the decision on Wednesday at the end of a two-day intensive meeting in Maitama, Abuja, that drew more than 30 commodity associations from 36 states of the federation and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).
One of the conveners of the meeting, Malam Ibrahim Garba revealed that the meeting was convened to articulate the position of the commodity associations who are the biggest stakeholders in the country ahead of the 2023 general elections.
He said the robust national security the country needs now can only be achieved through food security.
“Agriculture is the key to achieving national security. Through agriculture, millions of Nigerians are economically empowered and gainfully engaged, our industries are revived, a multifaceted value chain ecosystem created, and food security is ensured,” he said.
The commodity associations leaders said in the last seven years, Nigeria has carved a niche for itself as a country that has achieved self-sufficiency in food production. “Despite the Covid-19 pandemic, Nigerians were never short of food. We were never hungry even when every country in the world shut its borders for nearly a year.
“Only God knows what would have happened if we were importing the food we eat. There would have been war. But that was averted due to the resilience of Nigerian farmers and commitment to agriculture by the President Muhammadu Buhari administration,” one of the farmers leader from the Southeast, Chief Madu Ndubuisi, said.
It was to sustain this unprecedented agricultural feat that the representatives of farmers and their leaders across the commodities converged in Abuja for two days and decided to raise N100 million to acquire an APC form for Emefiele who is the driver of the Buhari agricultural revolution.
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It was learned that the farmers have divided themselves into six zones, with each zone raising at least N20 million. “We have decided that every farmer in the country would donate a minimum of N200 for this cause. We have set the ball rolling. We are not leaving any stone unturned,” Alhaji Mudi Ila, another commodity association leader from Jigawa State, told this newspaper.
