On Friday, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu suspended the Governor of Central Bank of Nigeria, Godwin Emefiele from office. His suspension was hinged on an ongoing investigation and reforms in the economy.

Although, no details were given on the investigation against the suspended CBN Governor, Emefiele has been on the radar of the Department of State Services in the recent times, for allegations bothering on terrorism financing, financing the outlawed Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB; economic sabotage, etc.

After a failed attempts to arrest the suspended CBN Governor, the DSS filed a motion before a Federal High Court in Abuja, seeking the arrest of Emefiele for 90 days, the motion ex parte, filed by four lawyers on December 7, 2022, failed.

On December 9, 2022, a federal high court sitting in Abuja presided over by Justice J. T. Tsoho, the Chief Judge, declined the application by the DSS to arrest and detain the CBN governor.

According to Justice Tsoho, the DSS did not provide any concrete evidence to substantiate its claims that Emefiele was involved in terrorism financing and economic crimes.

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 was arrested and detained. The DSS was also accused of not giving the details of the personality being sought to be arrested.

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.

The judge also restrained the DSS “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.”

Following its earlier unsuccessful attempt at arresting the apex bank governor, according to Daily Trust, the secret police has renewed its investigations into multiple allegations with a view to arresting the embattled Emefiele for possible prosecution.

Premium Times has also 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 Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB).

The federal government had proscribed IPOB, a separatist organisation that calls for secession and working for the establishment of Biafra republic.

Its members had allegedly killed hundreds of civilians and security operatives in the last few years and burnt symbols of authority like police and military formations, INEC offices, among others.

In the report by Premium Times, Emefiele was also accused of sabotaging former President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration, financing terrorism, aiding and abetting terrorism, and committing other economic crimes with the effect of undermining Nigeria’s national security.

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

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

The secret government agency also accused Emefiele of “fraud, money laundering, round tripping and conferment of financial benefit to self and others.”

It said he mismanaged various interventionist funds of the government under his control and concluded that “investigation is still ongoing on a wider scale as other members of the syndicate chain need to be identified and arrested to enable successful prosecution.”

Emefiele had vied for the presidential ticket on the platform of the All Progressives Congress, APC, last year, against President Tinubu. Denying any wrong doing, Emefiele said that the presidential form and other logistics were bankrolled by his admirers.

He also approached the Federal High Court in Abuja to obtain an order affirming his right to jostle for the APC’s ticket, the order was turned down on 9 May, 2022.

While the effort to arrest Emefiele was ongoing by the DSS, the Chief of Defence Staff was alleged to have deployed soldiers to provide security to him and prevent him from being arrested by the DSS.

The soldiers, it was gathered, countermanded the DSS officials who went to arrest Emefiele at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja, upon his return from a foreign trip with Buhari.

“Had we not stood down our officers, there could have been a shootout between our men and the soldiers who had cordoned off the area when the plane landed and escorted the CBN governor to his residence,” a source was reported by Daily Trust to have said.

The Acting Director, Defence Information, Brig.-Gen. Tukur Gusau, has justified he deployment, saying it was not about a personality or individual but the asset, which is beneficial to every Nigerian.

“What I know is that, we have deployment at the Central Bank of Nigeria and for other critical national assets. If you go to NNPC too, you will see our person.

“It is not only in Abuja here, we have such deployments, you will see that type of deployment in Lagos and other places where the critical national assets are located or situated,” Gusau was quoted to have said.

It is however bot clear if the DSS will pick up the suspended CBN Governor.