Group Blasts Matawalle over Comments against Emefiele

The Ideas Nigeria Movement (INM), a leadership-focus group has lambasted Governor Bello Matawalle of Zamfara for asking President Muhammadu Buhari to cancel the study leave purportedly granted to the Governor of Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Godwin Emefiele.

Matawalle had in a statement on Monday, said Emefiele did not deserve to go on such leave because of his monetary policy which he called “a disastrous naira swap policy” that brought untold suffering to Nigerians.

The Zamfara Governor’s statement was based on a fake news reported in an online medium which alleged that President Buhari had granted Emefiele study leave after

May 29.

The Presidency had denied any knowledge and existence of such study leave.

However, in a press statement yesterday, Executive Secretary, INM, Nadodo Abubakar, condemned Matawalle for making, “reckless and irresponsible statement based on nothing but rumour and utter falsehood.”

The group urged Buhari to ignore Matawalle’s “red herring and wild goose chase in pursuit of a premeditated scheme to embarrass and harass the CBN Governor after May 29 inauguration.”

“Rather than Matawalle to admit and apologise to the people of Zamfara for failing abysmally to protect their lives and property against pervasive terror attacks in the state, he is romancing baseless and unintelligent rumour which appeals to his sinister motive and those of his co-travellers to embarrass and harass the CBN governor.

“We are disappointed that a state governor in the 21st century would justify a weird monetary situation whereby as of September 2022, N2. 73 trillion out of the N3. 23 trillion currency in circulation, was outside the vaults of commercial banks across the country,” the statement said.

The group said such flawed currency retention and circulation could only happen in Nigeria where “the likes of Matawalle have turned their offices and homes into bank vaults to warehouse naira notes against the grain of logic and law.”