Godwin Emefiele Bio: Early Life, Career, Wife and Net Worth

Godwin Emefiele, a politician and banker from Nigeria born on August 4, 1961, has been the governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria since June 4, 2014.

Despite being from Ika South in the Agbor zone of Delta State, he was born in Lagos State. However, he was relieved of his job as the CBN governor by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu in June 2023 over some allegations.

Godwin Emefiele Profile Summary

• Full Name:  Godwin Emefiele
• Date of Birth: August 4, 1961
• Place of Birth: Lagos
• State of Origin: Delta State
• Nationality: Nigerian
• Occupation: Banker & Politician
• Net Worth: $20 million.
• Wife/Spouse: Margaret Emefiele

Godwin Emefiele Early Life

Godwin Emefiele was born on August 4, 1961, and raised in Lagos and is a resident of the Delta State community of Ika South in the Agbor area.

Before enrolling at the prestigious University of Nigeria Nsukka (UNN), Emefiele attended the Maryland Comprehensive Secondary School and Ansar Udin Primary School in Lagos.

With a Bachelor of Science in Banking and Finance, he graduated as one of the top students in his class in 1984.

After completing his National Youth Service in 1986, Godwin Emefiele went back to UNN to earn a master’s degree in finance.

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In addition to other institutions, he holds degrees from Stanford University (2005), Harvard University (2004), and the Wharton School of Business (2005).

The University of Nigeria Nsukka awarded Mr. Godwin Emefiele, an Honorary Doctorate Degree in Business Administration.

Godwin Emefiele Career

Emefiele started out as a finance and insurance instructor at the Universities of Nigeria in Nsukka and Port Harcourt, respectively. In his resume, he has also worked for Vodafone for a short time.

Emefiele joined the Central Bank with more than 18 years of banking experience. He was Zenith Bank Plc’s group managing director and CEO. Emefiele has been the deputy managing director of Zenith Bank Plc since 2001.

While working for Zenith Bank Plc, he was the executive director and the person in charge of corporate banking, treasury, financial control, and strategic planning. He was a founding member of the management group there.

Emefiele served as a director for Zenith Bank (Gambia) Limited and Zenith Bank Plc. Director Emefiele works for ACCION Microfinance Bank Limited.

Since 2014, Emefiele has presided as the Nigerian Central Bank’s governor.

At the president’s request, he oversaw an interventionist currency strategy during his first term that involved flooding the foreign exchange market with billions of dollars to boost the Nigerian Naira.

Additionally, in order to hide the Naira’s poor performance and prevent a string of devaluations, he put in place a multiple exchange rate system.

Emefiele was re-elected to the Nigerian Senate in 2019 for a second five-year term. Since the nation’s return to democracy in 1999, no one has been chosen to serve a second term in Nigeria.

On May 9, 2019, Senator Bukola Saraki read the letter from President Muhammadu Buhari. He underwent testing on Wednesday and received the results on May 16, 2019.

Controversy

Godwin Emefiele, the governor of Nigeria’s central bank, disobeyed the Central Bank Act, which mandates that the governor must always maintain an apolitical and neutral posture in order to maintain the bank’s nonpartisan status.

However, this led to his sack by the new government of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu in June 2023.

Emefiele sparked controversy when it was learned in May 2022 that he was running for Ex-President Muhammadu Buhari’s position in the 2023 presidential election.

A group of purported rice farmers allegedly obtained the APC’s presidential form for the CBN Governor, which gave rise to the notion that the bank’s governor was running for office that first surfaced in Abuja as campaign posters.

Personal Life

Godwin Emefiele is married to Margaret Emefiele, but nothing is known about his personal life.

Net Worth

Godwin Emefiele is a Nigerian politician and banker with a net worth of $20 million.

Social Media

Twitter: @GodwinIEmefiele