A federal high court sitting in Abuja has declined an application by the Department of State Services (DSS) to arrest and detain Godwin Emefiele, governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).
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In declining the motion ex parte — filed by an applicant in the absence of the respondent — Justice JT Tsoho, the chief judge, said the secret police did not provide any concrete evidence to substantiate its claims that Emefiele was involved in terrorism financing and economic crimes.
“The honourable judge also wondered why the name of the respondent was given simply as ‘Godwin Emefiele’ without a material disclosure that he is the same person as the CBN governor, a highly ranking public official who occupies an extremely sensitive position,” the source stated.
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.
The ruling dated December 13 reads in part: “The Respondent in this application is named as ‘Godwin Emefiele’ without disclosure of his status or position anywhere; not even in the affidavit.
It is left to speculation if the ‘Godwin Emefiele’ is the same person as the serving Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria. If it is, then he is unarguably a high ranking public official in Nigeria and indeed occupies a sensitive position as one of the key drivers of the nation’s economy.
“Therefore, an application of this kind should have evidence of the approval of the Respondent’s boss, that such measures are authorised to be taken. I, however, do not find such evidence in this instant application, whereas it is a necessary procedure in the observance of the Rule of Law.
“It is noted that it has been the practice of the Applicant to seek detention of a Respondent or further detention, for a definite period of time, when such Respondent is already arrested and is in their custody and that fact is clearly disclosed in the supporting affidavit. “This is not the situation here, as Godwin Emefiele, the CBN Governor was shown on television, even last (Sunday) night, having audience with the President of Nigeria.
It therefore seems that the Applicant intends to use the court, as a cover for an irregular procedure, which is unacceptable. “In the light of the foregoing reasons, I decline to grant this application ex-parte. If the Applicant believes that the evidence available to it so far is sufficient, then it can as well arrest and detain the Applicant, even without the order of this court. If, however, the Applicant desires to still pursue this application, then it should place the Respondent on notice, considering the sensitive public office that he occupies.
“This application as presently constituted is refused.”
Click here to download SSS-CBN-GOV in PDF format.
There are suggestions that the bid to arrest Emefiele might be political given the impact the redesign of the naira and limit on cash withdrawals might have on vote-buying in the 2023 elections.
A number of politicians have complained that the naira redesign is targeted at them but President Muhammadu Buhari has given his full backing to Emefiele over the policy.
Essentially, our correspondent gathered that since announcement of the naira redesign policies, the DSS has been making enquiries from the apex bank, which the regulatory authority felt was impugning its independence as the Service kept on inviting central bank officials over the process, currency printing and minting, among others. All these the central bank resisted and that resistance led to the DSS doubling down and decided to approach an order to arrest.
However, some elders and senior government officials have waded into the matter, with a view to making peace.
The new financial policies introduced by the CBN, appeared to have disrupted some political parties’ vote-buying strategies, leading to plans to fight back and circumvent the CBN newly introduced policy.
Meanwhile, human rights lawyers and groups, including the Arewa Youth Consultative Movement, have raised the alarm over a plot by the DSS to implicate the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Governor Godwin Emefiele in terrorism sponsorship.
The group under the auspices of Coalition of National Interest Defenders alleged that to achieve the aim of getting Emefiele arrested, the DSS secretly instituted a court action against him at the Federal High Court in Abuja. Describing the alleged action as a strange development in the history of the country, the group demanded the immediate sacking of the DSS Director General to prevent him from setting the country ablaze.
Addressing a press conference on Monday in Abuja, the Convener of the coalition Tochukwu Ohazuruike said the agency filed a motion in Court accusing Emefiele of terrorism financing and other crimes.
The group also accused the DSS of not informing President Muhammadu Buhari of the investigative report showing them that Emefiele is a terrorist and faulted the agency for allowing him to travel out of the country with the President and have unrestricted access to him. Challenging the veracity of the claims, the coalition said if truly the DG DSS believed his claims, he would not have allowed Emefiele anywhere near the President. He added that by allowing Emefiele to travel with the President, it showed the DG DSS did not believe Emefiele is a terrorist.
The groups, therefore, called on Buhari and the Attorney General of the Federation to set the process in motion to immediately suspend, arrest, investigate and prosecute the DG DSS Mr. Yusuf Magaji Bichi
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