Ex-CBN Governor Godwin Emefiele Arrested, Faces Terrorism Financing, Political Instability

Few minutes after President Bola Ahmed Tinubu sacked Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN governor, Godwin Emefiele from office to pave way for ongoing investigation in the CBN, Nigeria Secret police, Department of State Services, DSS has reportedly arrested the ousted governor.

PM News in a report few hours ago indicated that Godwin Emefiele was arrested few moments after he was suspended from office and asked to hand over the affairs of his office to the CBN Deputy Governor incharge of Operations, Folashodun Adebisi Shonubi on Friday.

Unconfirmed reports also indicated that under Godwin Emefiele as CBN governor, most Kidnappers collected ransom from their kidnapped victims via bank accounts or bank transfers without the owner or owners of such accounts being tracked or blocked by the CBN, which is a regulatory body for all bank activities in Nigeria.

The suspension, according to sources, was a democratic and diplomatic way to sack the apex bank governor by the President.

It would be recalled that the DSS had made several attempts to arrest and detain the ousted CBN Governor, Godwin Emefiele during the administrative era of President Muhammadu Buhari but Federal High Court halted the DSS moves on the ground that there was no presidential approval for such arrest.

According to the statement issued by Willie Bassey, the Director of information in the office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Godwin Emefiele was suspended due to the ongoing investigation of his office and the planned reforms in the financial sector of the economy.

Before Godwin Emefiele’s suspension, the DSS, on December 7, 2022, in an exparte application with reference number: FHC/ABJ/CS/2255/2022, sought an order to arrest the CBN Governor.

DSS alleged that Goodwin Emefiele was found to be financing terrorism, fraudulent activities and economic crimes of national security dimension to cause political instability in Nigeria.

Chief Judge of the Federal High Court, Justice J.T Tsoho, however, refused to grant the application of the DSS.

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

Also, it would be recalled that one of the planned financial reforms in the Economy sector initiated by Godwin Emefiele, was Naira redesign and cashless policy which resorted to Naira scarcity in the month of February 2023.

Many businesses suffered setbacks as a result of the Naira scarcity. Many Nigerians groaned until the Supreme Court of Justice ruled and ordered the continuous use of the old ₦1000, ₦500, ₦200 notes till December 31, 2023 when the new Naira notes must have been in wider circulation.