A militant group, Niger Delta Freedom Reserve Force, has declared support for the presidential bid of the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Godwin Emefiele, under the All Progressives Congress (APC).
In a short video posted on Facebook, the group said it settled for Mr Emefiele after carefully checking the backgrounds of the other aspirants in the race.
The group, which named General Jack Fineboy as its leader, said Mr Emefiele is not a politician but a gentleman that will keep his words.
The group posted the video the same day (Friday) an online newspaper; primebusiness.africa, reported that Mr Emefiele had picked the APC presidential nomination form. The newspaper said the Finance Department of the ruling party confirmed that the form was released to the CBN boss on Friday.
But the CBN governor denied this, saying he was still awaiting “God’s divine intervention” before deciding on the calls for him to run.
His statement came after months of speculations and denials about his interest in the nation’s top office.
The CBN had earlier dissociated itself from reports that Mr Emefiele contemplated resigning his position to join the 2023 presidential race.
Leadership newspapers reports the CBN spokesperson, Osita Nwasinobi, as saying that the report was a distraction from the CBN’s focus on its mandate of minding monetary policies, financial stability and supporting government programmes.
Several organisations, including this newspaper, had called for the resignation of Mr Emefiele after his presidential campaign posters appeared.
