CBN governor Emefiele ‘sneaks’ into Nigeria, may leave soon
Embattled governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has returned to the country in a rather quiet fashion.
He is also planning to leave the country as soon as possible.
Mr Emefiele has been out of the country for several weeks amidst fears he would be arrested by operatives of the State Security Service (SSS) who are investigating several allegations against him, including corruption and terrorism financing.
A presidency source, however, told PREMIUM TIMES that the CBN governor got President Muhammadu Buhari’s permission for two weeks of leave which expired Tuesday.
“His holidays finished yesterday so he has to report to work today,” our source said.
PREMIUM TIMES also learnt that Mr Emefiele is planning to leave the country again very soon, as he is afraid the secret police could eventually arrest him amidst the continuous power play at the highest levels of the Nigerian government.
“He is trying to leave within the next few days on the pretence of attending the annual World Economic Forum,” our source said.
Senior Special Assistant to the president on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu, and the spokesperson of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Osita Nwanisobi, did not respond to calls and text messages put across to them regarding the matter as of press time Thursday morning.
In December, the SSS secretly sought a court order to arrest Emefiele. The Federal High Court, Abuja, however, rejected the SSS request.
In the application, the SSS wanted the court to order the arrest of the CBN governor over alleged “acts of financing terrorism, fraudulent activities and economic crimes of national security dimension.”
The SSS filed the application marked FHC/ABJ/CS/2255/2022 at the court on 7 December 2022. Emefiele was the sole defendant in the suit which was filed ‘ex parte’, meaning Emefiele was not notified of the suit.
But the judge, John Tsoho, in a 9 December ruling, rejected the application on the grounds that the secret police failed to provide sufficient evidence to warrant the issuance of an arrest warrant against Emefiele.
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