A professional group, Nigerian Patriotic Quest, NPQ, has again urged the Governor of Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, Mr. Godwin Emefiele, to contest the Presidency in the 2023 general elections.

The group, composed mainly of Nigerians in diaspora, also flayed Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, for asking the CBN governor to resign, following what it described as his partisan posture.

In a statement by Coordinator, Ahmed Ja’Usman Tijani, entitled “Run Emefiele Run,” the group said now that Nigeria was at crossroads, it would continue to prevail on Emefiele to accept to contest the 2023 presidential election, saying this was not the time to leave the space for politicians who had led the country “astray.”

• READ ALSO: Fighting inflation’s my focus, not rumoured presidency bid — Emefiele 

The statement read: “’We, the members of the Nigerian Patriotic Quest, NPQ, a group of Nigerian professionals, mostly based in the diaspora, wish to declare for the umpteenth time that the moment is now for Godwin Ifeanyichukwu Emefiele to join the race for the presidency of Nigeria.

“We will continue to make this call because Nigeria is now at a crossroads and will require the care and nurture of a man like Godwin to take her to the promised land of rapid development.

“In the past two decades, Nigerians have entrusted their fate in the hands of professional politicians with barely anything to show for it. If we must be honest to ourselves, we can say without any fear of contradiction, that the professional politicians have succeeded in running the nation aground.

Blasts PDP for attacking CBN gov

On call by PDP that Emefiele resigns his position as CBN governor, following a statement signed by the party’s National Publicity Secretary, Debo Ologunagba,  the group said:  “We are forced to issue this rejoinder, despite the fact that, ideally, the vituperations are undeserving of the consideration of any serious minded person.

“We are also compelled to come up with this response knowing that the subject of this slanderous essay, Godwin Emefiele, being a very humble, dedicated and self effacing public servant, may not be in a position to rebut these lies.

“After reading through the press release by the PDP Publicity Secretary, we are forced to assert that these are the products of a mischievous and over-excited imagination.”

  We are shocked by the deliberate distortion of facts and, indeed, by the ignoble attempt to deceive the public, through the countless repetition of empty allegations.

“Our interest in this matter is based on the fact that we are a prominent campaigner for Emefiele to be part of the presidential contest come 2023. We owe no one any apology for this, and we will continue to affirm that Emefiele is the type of leader that this nation needs now.

‘’We are, indeed, surprised that a National Publicity Secretary of PDP will at this time believe that running down Emefiele is the best way to re-energise their ineffective opposition politics of the past seven years.

‘’We are convinced that the publicity secretary may be serving the interests of some puppeteers, who may not necessarily be members of the PDP, who feel threatened by the ever-rising profile of the CBN governor.”

‘’The baselessness of these allegations is underlined by the fact that at no time has Emefiele declared himself to be a presidential candidate of the APC. To further expose this hatchet job for what it is, there is no single poster of Emefiele with the insignia of APC on it.

‘’In order to emphasise the ridiculousness of Ologunagba’s assertions, the poster he presented in his press release to support his allegation bears no APC symbol or logo on it. This is the efforts of a man who is ready to concoct all sorts of lies in order to achieve his preconceived objectives.

‘’Perhaps, he was emboldened by the assumption that Nigerians will not take the time to verify his empty allegations.   The fact remains that Godwin Ifeanyichukwu Emefiele never appeared in any APC poster till date.

‘’We dare say, that if any such poster appears overnight starting from now, it will be the handiwork of Mr. Ologunagba and his cohorts, who knowing that they have been exposed, may resort to producing such materials in order to cover their shame.

‘’The very unfounded basis of his major allegations against Emefiele has also put the lie to all other accusations in his press release.   Emefiele in his position as CBN governor, to all objective observers, has performed his duties with a great sense of patriotism, dedication and non-partisanship. Indeed, the benefits of the CBN’s economic interventions and policies cut across political or geographical boundaries.

‘’This is the main reason his efforts have been acclaimed across the country; and this is why we and a generality of citizens believe that he is the most suitable candidate for the post of president come 2023.

All the other financial allegations spewed out in the press release are indeed laughable and are products of a man who does not understand the structure and operations of the CBN.’’