Emefiele Controversy: Presidency’s Silence Can Ruin Nigeria’s Economy — Rtd Supreme Court Justice Ejembi Eko

“This is a clear case of a corrupt politician calling a corrupt banker a sinner” –– Christian Aniekwena

Recently, there were speculations that Nigeria’s Central Bank Governor, Godwin Emefiele, had fled the country due to fears of arrest by the State Security Service (SSS) over allegations of corruption and terrorism financing. However, Emefiele returned to the country without notice.

On December 15, 2022, a member of the Federal House of Representatives, Hon. Gudaji Kazaure, appeared on a special program and made accusations of corruption against Emefiele. Hon. Kazaure also claimed that certain individuals in the Presidency were preventing him from presenting a report on a committee, investigating alleged stamp duty funds being withheld by the Central Bank of Nigeria, to President Muhammadu Buhari. The Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity to President Buhari has described the committee as illegal and dissolved, yet more than 2000 Civil Society Organizations under the Coalition of Civil Society Organizations on Good Governance have defended Emefiele. The SSS has reportedly vowed to arrest Emefiele despite a court order restraining them from doing so.

Retired Supreme Court Justice Ejembi Eko also weighed in on the debate and questioned the involvement of the DSS in the investigation and prosecution of a financial crime, and the lack of action by the presidency. Some have suggested that this is a case of a corrupt politician calling out a corrupt banker, while the corrupt executive remains unable to address the issue.

In a chat with Law & Society Magazine, Hon. Justice Eko (rtd.) had this to say— “Hon Kazaure claims to be the secretary of a presidential committee. Who is the chairman? And it is Kazaure, the Secretary, making, but frustrated, efforts to submit the report to the president directly, without the Secretary to the Federal Government of Nigeria (SFGN)? My experience is: Commissions of Inquiry are funded from votes of the SFGN. The President has not received the report, yet Kazaure and the DSS are implementing the report.  Tsoho, Chief Judge of the Federal High Court, comes under Kazaure’s severe criticism for not granting DSS application to arrest and detain Emefiele (who was part of the presidential entourage to the USA- a fact known to DSS/DIA). Why is DSS, not EFCC or ICPC, overtly involved in the investigation and prosecution of a financial crime?

“If the President is not involved in the scheme, why is the presidency very quiet over an enormous scandal that can ruin the economy and bring down the government? Already, Kazaure is indicting the Judiciary, CBN, Legislature, and even the Executive (those preventing him from submitting his report).”

“This is a clear case of a corrupt politician calling a corrupt banker a sinner, while the corrupt executive is incapacitated to clean up or judge the two because she has either soiled her hands or inept”, Christian Aniekwena a Business Development Consultant told Law & Society. “However, you can only get this kind of scenario in an environment like ours with old and morally weak leaders that have no capacity to lead.

“Emefiele is not the only problem, all our politicians created the monster corruption we are experiencing today. A few questions to ponder here:

1. Is Hon. Gudaje Kazaure just getting to know of this Mr. Adetola story?
2. Would he have spoken up if the concept of Naira redesign was not introduced by the CBN-led emefiele?
3. Is Hon Gudaje truly sincere in this quest to fight corruption in the CBN and on the side of the masses or is he fighting to stop the cashless policy so that those in power will continue the business of ‘cash money’ politics as usual, especially as the 2023 election is close?

“In conclusion, we need a true leader(s) who is/are not known with any corruption case to cleanse the corruption in our system. So help us God!” He concluded.

Official rate of N461.23 per dollar for investors and exporters. At the parallel market, the naira traded at about N744 per dollar yesterday, according to traders.