JOHANNESBURG, June 12 (Reuters) - Nigeria's sovereign dollar-denominated bonds rose sharply on Monday, as overseas investors welcomed the suspension late last week of central bank governor Godwin Emefiele, who oversaw multiple exchange rates that sought to keep the naira strong.

The price of the West African oil producer's Eurobonds rose as much as 2.6 cents in the dollar before moderating slightly, with many issues reaching the highest prices since late January.

Longer-dated maturities saw the biggest gains, with the 2049 maturity up 2.353 cents to 80.231 at 0746 GMT, according to Tradeweb data.

Nigeria is facing severe dollar shortages, forcing many to seek out foreign currency on the black market where the naira trades much weaker.

The country's new President Bola Tinubu had criticised Emefiele's handling of the naira and monetary policy at his inauguration two weeks ago. The suspended governor is now in custody for investigative reasons, the police's Department of State Services (DSS) said on Saturday.

"We believe the changes signal a new era of focused, predictable monetary policy and a shift towards non-interventionism in the foreign-exchange regime," Barclays economist Michael Kafe said in a note to clients on Monday. (Reporting by Rachel Savage, Editing by Amanda Cooper and Frank Jack Daniel)