Federal Govt explains why President Tinubu suspends CBN governor

VOICE AIR MEDIA News Update

President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has suspended Godwin Emefiele, the embattled governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).

It was learnt that officials of State Security Service (SSS) have also arrested him.

Credible sources around the presidency and the intelligence community said Emefiele was suspended because of many reasons, among them his recent role in naira swap and cashless policy that mopped up the entire money in circulation in the country, which nearly truncated the conduct of the 2023 general elections.

Tinubu had, at the height of electioneering, said the naira policy was targeted at him, insisting that he would certainly win the election despite sabotage from official quarters.

Neither the suspended CBN governor nor official spokesman of the apex bank, Isa Abdulmumin, could be reached for comment.

Recall that Emefiele had at various times denied wrong doing, insisting he was discharging his responsibilities as provided by the law.

Some of our sources said Emefiele ought to have been suspended long before the exit of former President Muhammadu Buhari, but he was not.

The sources said they were all appalled by the ‘I-don’t-care-attitude of Buhari’ to all the facts, figures and incontrovertible indicting documents presented to him by various agencies over financial malfeasance of the suspended CBN governor.

It was learnt that the SSS, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and many financial regulatory agencies, both at home and abroad, have issues to grind with the embattled Emefiele.

The announcement of his suspension was contained in a statement released on Friday night by Willie Bassey, the Director of Information, on behalf of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Senator George Akume.

The statement noted that this was sequel to the ongoing investigation of his office and the planned reforms in the financial sector of the economy.

“Mr Emefiele has been directed to immediately hand over the affairs of his office to the deputy governor (Operations Directorate), who will act as the CBN governor pending the conclusion of investigation and the reforms,” the reads.

Efforts to get official reaction from the spokesman of the SSS, Peter Afunanya last night proved abortive as several phone calls to his mobile phone were rejected.

He was yet to reply to different text and WhatsApp messages sent to him at the time of filing this report last night. But multiple sources within the secret police told Daily Trust Saturday that the embattled apex bank governor is now in their custody undergoing interrogations.

“Yes, he is here already undergoing interrogation,” one of the sources simply said and hung up when asked further questions.

Another source also confirmed Emefiele’s presence in the facility of the secret police last night.

Long way to suspension

One of our sources said various agencies had carried out investigation on Emefiele and submitted their reports to the immediate past administration for action but nothing was done.

“If anything, the last gift to Emefiele by the last administration was a national honour,” he said.

What the public know

In February, Daily Trust reported that the SSS had stepped up investigations with a view to arresting and prosecuting Emefiele over allegations of terrorism financing and fraud.

An online platform, Premium Times, recently published some of the exclusive details it got from court documents on the controversy around the trail for Emefiele, among them funding “unknown gunmen” and members of the outlawed IPOB.

In the report by the online medium, Emefiele was also accused of sabotaging President Buhari’s administration, financing terrorism, aiding and abetting terrorism and committing other economic crimes to undermine Nigeria’s national security.

It also accused the CBN governor of mismanaging its subsidiary, NIRSAL and the bank’s Anchor Borrowers Programme.

The SSS alleged that Emefiele funded the IPOB/Eastern Security Network (ESN) with both the resources he raised for his failed presidential bid last year and funds diverted from government coffers.

Recall that a team of four lawyers from the legal department of the secret security agency filed its case (ex parte motion) against Emefiele on December 7, 2022, seeking permission to detain him for 60 days to conclude an investigation of his alleged atrocities.

However, on December 9 last year, a Federal High Court in Abuja declined the SSS application to arrest and detain the CBN governor.

In declining the motion of ex parte filed by the secret police, Justice J. T. Tsoho, the chief judge, said the agency did not provide any concrete evidence to substantiate its claims that Emefiele was involved in terrorism financing and economic crimes.

The court said that such an application should have been accompanied with the presidential approval because of the grave implications for the Nigerian economy if the CBN governor was arrested and detained.

Meanwhile, about two weeks after Justice Tsoho gave his order, Emefiele got another reprieve from a separate court as the Federal Capital Territory High Court granted a request by a civil society organisation to prevent his arrest.

Justice Muslim Hassan of the FCT court had ruled that based on Tsoho’s earlier ruling, “Any continuous harassment, intimidation, threats, restriction of movement, abuse of right of office, surreptitious moves to arrest and humiliation” of Emefiele, over “Trumped up allegations of terrorism financing and fraudulent practices” was illegal and unconstitutional.

Judge also restrained the SSS “from instigating the arrest or arresting, interrogating and detaining” Emefiele in respect of any matter or policy decision on the Nigerian economy “or for any connected purposes, except by an order of a superior court.”