Justice J.T Tsoho of 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), TheCable reports.
Justice J.T Tsoho of 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), TheCable reports.
According to the publication, in declining the motion ex parte filed by an applicant in the absence of the respondent, Justice Tsoho said the secret police did not provide any concrete evidence to substantiate its claims that Emefiele was involved in terrorism financing and economic crimes.
Sources at the high court that the judge said he should have been taken into confidence if there was any evidence to back the allegations in the application, marked FHC/ABJ/CS/2255/2022. The court said such an application should have been accompanied by presidential approval because of the grave implications for the Nigerian economy if the CBN governor is arrested and detained.
The Cable added that 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.
Meanwhile, DSS has warned Nigerians against being used to “undermine” its investigations. In a statement issued on Monday night December 19, Peter Afunanya, DSS spokesperson, said the service will not be distracted by those seeking to use “propaganda” to undermine its lawful investigations.
Afunanya said one of the duties of the DSS is the “investigation of matters of national security dimension. It has always discharged this responsibility in the overall interest of Nigerian citizens”.
