Barely 4 hours after Godwin Emefiele, the governor of Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) was suspended from office, the Department of State Services, DSS has arrested and is said to be cooling off in their custody for crimes bordering on terrorism and money laundering.
President Bola Ahmed Tinubu had ordered his suspension and directed that he immediately hands over the affairs of his office to the Deputy Governor in charge of Operations Directorate, who will act as the Central Bank Governor pending the conclusion of an investigation and the reforms.
Before his arrest late Friday night,the DSS had made several attempts to arrest Emefiele but all efforts of the secret police had proved abortive. One of such efforts was an application( ex parte motion,) it filed on December 7, 2022, seeking permission to arrest and probe Mr Emefiele,but a Federal High Court in Abuja on December 9, declined the request .
The Chief Judge,Justice J.T. Tsoho, , said that the DSS did not provide any concrete evidence to substantiate its claims that Emefiele was involved in terrorism financing and economic crimes.
The court stated that such an application should have received presidential approval because of the grave implications for the economy if the CBN governor was arrested .
The DSS had accused Emefiele of financing terrorism, aiding and abetting terrorism, and committing other economic crimes.
The Security Agency alleged among others, that Emefiele funded the Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB with both the resources he raised for his failed presidential bid on the platform of the Al Progressives Congress, APC, last year and funds diverted from government coffers and mismanagement of government funds.
