The move follows a government investigation, according to a statement from the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation. The announcement said Mr Emefiele has been ordered to immediately hand over his duties to a deputy executive officer who will act as interim governor pending the conclusion of the investigation and reforms.

Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Mr. Godwin Emefiele. Source: premiumtimesng

Mr. Emefiele has been the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria since June 2014. Nigeria is in the midst of an economic crisis stemming from a loose currency exchange policy. The initial goal of the plan was to eliminate the illegal cash economy and replace it with new notes to force people to put their Naira in the banks. However, the country’s banking system ran out of new notes to exchange for people before the old Naira in the market disappeared, creating the strangest crisis in Africa. Out of frustration, a series of protests and riots broke out as people stormed bank branches and vandalized them.

Since January 2023, the country's central bank's new regulations only allow people to withdraw 100,000 Naira, equivalent to 217 USD per week. Meanwhile, the government has only recovered 1.3 trillion out of a total of 3.23 trillion Naira.

VNA