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By Sarafa Ibrahim
I grew up picturing the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) in my head as an institution that is beyond political manipulation. Anytime I have a reason to go to Central Market in Kaduna state to run an errand, I usually find an excuse to pass through the bank’s branch located at Yakubu Gowon Way, not just to catch the sight of the sprawling edifice, but to remind myself of the significance that the institution bears on Nigeria’s economic objectives.
The CBN is not just a bank but a mirror for Nigeria’s financial practices, providing both local and foreign investors with an overview of the country’s economic climate, particularly compliance to rule of laws and global best practices in financial transactions. This, I suppose, informed the decision of the drafters of the enabling laws guiding the operation of the apex bank, to provide a clearer legal basis that insulates it from political interference in whatever way.
But the Osun state chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) is giving the impression that this is about to change. In its most recent press statement, the opposition party in Osun state suggested that the CBN may kowtow to its efforts to illegally hijack public funds due to local governments in the state by disclosing that “The CBN, whose hallmark is the rules of law, has been processing the payment of the allocations to the rightful local government council chairmen and councillors and the process that is close to conclusion in the due course.”
Let us, for a moment pause, and go through the facts on the local governments crisis. What I’m sure will be revealed is a total breakdown of public institutions at the expense of politics. Nowhere in the 53 page of the Court of Appeal judgement being referenced by Mr. Kola Olabisi ordered the reinstatement of the court-sacked YES or NO officials.
But, as we have seen in the past six-months, Mr. Olabisi, just as his party, is too immersed in the sheer art of manipulating public institutions that he fails to see the damage of dragging the CBN into the unlawful move of paying people sacked by the court. The truth, which is well in the public glare, is that no court upturned the invalidation of the October 15, 2022, local governments election, not to talk of conferring any legal benefits on the beneficiaries. Even more, the Court of Appeal in a June 13, 2025 decision affirmed the Federal High Court judgement that sacked the YES or NO officials.
That ruling is yet to be appealed at the Supreme Court, not to talk of it being set aside and this fact is well in the possession of the CBN. As such, it defies not just legal argument but even logical ground to contemplate paying those who are already sacked by the court. Doing that will amount to diversion of public funds to private individuals and the CBN as an institution mirroring Nigeria’s financial system, will not only be hurting its credibility, but put the country’s economic well-being in a jeopardy.
On a closer look, Section 1(3) of the CBN Act, 2007, mandates the CBN to be an independent body in discharging its function, literally impressing on it to ensure that rule of laws and not politics, guide its decisions. It is this very fundamental legal provision that the Osun APC is suggesting may be sidestepped by the CBN, hence, elevating impunity to an unprecedented height in the history of the country.
The problem here is that short-lived, politically motivated moves destroy the credibility of institutions and inflict long-term damage of public trust in them. This is why the CBN has a duty to resist every attempt to draw it into what clearly has politics written over it, and instead, settle for the true position of the law on the Osun LGs crisis, which is actually obeying judicial pronouncements which sacked the YES or NO officials and validated the February 22, 2022 local governments election along with beneficiaries.
Some federal institutions can afford to pick the side of politics as we have seen with the one-sided and deliberate twist of unambiguous judicial pronouncements but the CBN can not afford to do that. As a developing nation, Nigeria requires a significant flow of both local and foreign direct investment to grow its economy and engaged its large population.
In all of this, the CBN holds a critical role in convincing both local and foreign investors of the security of their investments. And, the only way to do that is by observing strict compliance of legal pronouncement and not cherry-picking judgements based on political interest. It is clear to any keen observer that the situation with the local governments crisis in Osun state is plainly political, deliberately orchestrated by wicked politicians to pitch the people at the grassroot against Governor Ademola Adeleke ahead of the 2026 governorship.
If it is about the law, the Osun APC has no ground whatsoever to hold onto and that is why the Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF) who was quick to offer a biased and patently flawed opinion on the February 10, 2025 judgement of the Court of Appeal, has been silent since the same Court of Appeal gave another ruling on June 13, 2025, which affirmed the sack of the YES or NO officials and validated the February 22, 2025, local governments election that produced beneficiaries from the Peoples Democratic Party (APC).
Of course, such disposition of the AGF is not about the law but politics, which may be why the Osun APC believes the CBN can go ahead to pay its officials irrespective of the legal reality. But the CBN can show to be different, choosing the law and not politics. The position of the law is unambiguous and until the judgement of the Court of Appeal delivered on June 13, 2025 is set aside by a superior court, the local governments election of October 15, 2022, stand nullified and beneficiaries remain sacked.
The mere suggestion that the Osun APC could leverage the CBN to act contrary to judicial pronouncements and the laws, put the credibility of the institution to serious question. This is capable of scaring away investors and significantly impacting efforts to attract investments and boost the economy, unless it could turn down the illegal move. That is how much the cost of the CBN succumbing to undue political influence could be, and by all indications, it doesn’t look good.
In the past when the apex bank succumbed to political pressures, the outcome is usually not good. This is why it does not make sense to risk the credibility of the CBN in the manner that the Osun APC is doing as the perception of politics weighing on decision that law should prevail, will put investors off and hurt the economy on the long run.
So, which side will the CBN be? Politics or the law?
• Sarafa Ibrahim is a Special Assistant to the Osun State Governor on Print Media and writes from Osogbo, Osun state.
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