President Muhammadu Buhari has said he refused to replace Godwin Emefiele, Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), when he took over power, because he wanted to give him (Emefiele) the opportunity to salvage the economy from what he described as its “terrible condition”
Buhari disclosed this at the weekend, when he hosted some of his supporters at the Presidential Villa in Abuja.
Emefiele has been Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria since June 3, 2014 and had served as Chief Executive officer and Group Managing Director of Zenith Bank Plc.
Before commencing his banking career, he lectured Finance and Insurance at the University of Nigeria Nsukka, and University of Port Harcourt, respectively.
The president also insisted that the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) left the country in ruins, challenging anyone to present any evidence that could contradict his claim.
“I said it is on record and I challenge anybody to check from Europe, United States and Asia that between 1999 and 2014, the 16 years of previous administration, there was an average of 2.1 million per day of crude oil at the average cost of 100 dollars per barrel,” he said.
Buhari assured Nigerians that his administration would continue to spend more funds, to upgrade the nation’s infrastructural facilities.
He said the government had also expended more than N1.3trillion on capital projects across the country.