Godwin Emefiele is Nigeria’s Central Bank Governor and Daily News24 brings you a biography of the banker.
Godwin Emefiele is a Nigerian banker who has served as the Central Bank of Nigeria’s Governor since June 4, 2014. Emefiele was born on August 4, 1961 in Lagos State, Nigeria, and is originally from Ika South, Agbor region of Delta State.
Emefiele attended Ansar Udin Primary School and Maryland Comprehensive Secondary School in Lagos before enrolling at the prestigious University of Nigeria Nsukka (UNN). In 1984, he earned a Bachelor of Science in Banking and Finance, finishing as one of the top students in his class.
Godwin Emefiele returned to UNN shortly after completing his National Youth Service to pursue a Masters Degree in Finance, which he received in 1986. He has also completed Executive Education programs at Stanford University, Harvard University (2004), and the Wharton School of Business (2005).
Mr Godwin Emefiele, Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, has been awarded an Honorary Doctorate Degree in Business Administration by the University of Nigeria Nsukka (UNN).
Private sector career
Emefiele taught finance and insurance at the University of Nigeria Nsukka and the University of Port Harcourt early in his career. He also worked for Vodafone for a short time.
Emefiele had over eighteen years of banking experience prior to joining the Central Bank. He was Zenith Bank Plc’s chief executive officer and group managing director. Emefiele joined Zenith Bank Plc as deputy managing director in 2001.
He was Zenith Bank Plc’s executive director in charge of corporate banking, treasury, financial control, and strategic planning, and he was a member of the management team since its inception. Emefiele worked for Zenith Bank Plc and Zenith Bank (Gambia) Limited as a director. Emefiele is an ACCION Microfinance Bank Limited director.
CBN Governor
Emefiele has been the governor of Nigeria’s Central Bank since 2014. During his first term, he oversaw an interventionist currency policy at the request of the presidency, pumping billions of dollars into the foreign exchange market to prop up the Nigerian Naira.
He also instituted a multiple exchange rate regime in an at
\tempt to mask Naira pressures and avoid a series of devaluations.
Emefiele was re-elected to a second five-year term by Nigeria’s Senate in 2019. This is the first time anyone has been elected to a second term in Nigeria since the country’s return to democracy in 1999. On Thursday, May 9, 2019, Senator Bukola Saraki read President Buhari’s letter. On Wednesday, he was screened, and on Thursday, May 16, 2019, he was confirmed.
Controversies
Emefiele sparked public outrage in May 2022 when it was revealed that he was running to replace President Muhammadu Buhari in the 2023 presidential election.
What began as a rumor when campaign posters of the bank’s governor flooded the capital city of Abuja quickly gained traction when a group of alleged rice farmers purchased the All Progressive Congress presidential form for the CBN Governor.
Emefiele rejected the presidential nomination form and stated that he will not run. He filed a lawsuit at the Federal High Court in Abuja, requesting that the court issue an order directing the electoral body and the attorney general’s office not to prevent him from running for president.
The court denied the request, but invited the duo to make a formal presentation explaining why Emefiele’s request should be denied.
Nigerians and civil society organizations have filed multiple court cases demanding that the CBN Governor be removed for violating the provisions of the apex bank Act.
Godwin Emefiele has an estimated net worth of $20 million.
