Shortly after his announced suspension, it was believed that men of the Directorate of State Services moved in to actualise their long manhunt for the Central Bank Governor, Mr. Godwin Emefiele, arresting him and keeping him in their custody. But, the DSS rebutted the report saying, “currently, Emefiele is not with the DSS” There was
Shortly after his announced suspension, it was believed that men of the Directorate of State Services moved in to actualise their long manhunt for the Central Bank Governor, Mr. Godwin Emefiele, arresting him and keeping him in their custody. But, the DSS rebutted the report saying, “currently, Emefiele is not with the DSS”
There was no love lost between the Department of State Security and the CBN governor as different attempts have been made to arrest and investigate him for terrorism allegations. But, his suspension by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, cleared the coast for his arrest.
Three hours later the DSS issued a statement confirming that Mr. Emefiele was now in its custody. The statement reads:
EMEFIELE, NOW IN DSS CUSTODY
The Department of State Services (DSS) hereby confirms that Mr Godwin Emefiele, the suspended Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) is now in its custody for some investigative reasons.
The public, particularly the Media, is enjoined to apply utmost caution in the reportage and narratives concerning this.
Peter Afunanya PhD fsi
Public Relations Officer
Department of State Services
National Headquarters
Abuja
10th June, 2023
A video emerged on the social media showing Mr. Emefiele being driven in a white Hilux Jeep into the entrance of an aircraft, he was wearing a kaftan with cap and accompanied into a waiting aircraft with engine rolling already closely marked with a person holding handcuffs. Mr. Emefiele was said to have been arrested in Lagos and flown to Abuja.
Mr. Godwin Emefiele was suspended from office as the CBN Governor by President Bola Tinubu. A statement released by the office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation on Friday night, signed by Willie Bassey, Director of Information, SGF office noted that the suspension came in response to an ongoing investigation in the office of the CBN governor and the planned reforms in the country’s financial sector.
Mr. Bassey further noted that Emefiele has been directed to hand over the affairs of the apex bank to the Deputy director of the financial institutions(operations directorate).
“President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has suspended the Central Bank Governor, Mr Godwin Emefiele, CFR, from office with immediate effect,” the Director of Information, Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation Willie Bassey said in a Friday statement.
“This is sequel to the ongoing investigation of his office and the planned reforms in the financial sector of the economy.
“Mr Emefiele has been directed to immediately hand over the affairs of his office to the Deputy Governor (Operations Directorate), who will act as the Central Bank Governor pending the conclusion of the investigation and the reforms.”
Appointed as CBN Governor in June 2014, Godwin Emefiele, has been lately caught in the Web of controversial reports both with his political aspirations and some of his policies.
Contrary to the apolitical status which is expected of CBN, the suspended CBN governor reportedly ventured into partisan politics in which he was nominated as presidential aspirant under the umbrella of the All Progressives Congress to succeed the immediate past president, Muhammadu Buhari. Although he later rejected the nomination form, claiming that he did not have the intention of vying for the position.
Thereafter, Mr Emefiele also got caught up in the crossfire from Nigerians when he announced the introduction of new #200, #500, and #1000 notes few weeks to the election, indicating that the policy was introduced to avert the rising inflation in the country.
However, the policy triggered agitations among the Nigerians as most people could not access the new Naira notes at the Automated Teller Machines and banks across the country. Amid the hardship faced by Nigerians, some governors dragged the apex bank to the Supreme court to reverse the policy. Consequently the apex court rescinded the policy but it took a while before Mr Emefiele obeyed the court order.
Also, multiple platforms reported in February this year that the Department of State Services was planning to arrest Mr Emefiele over an allegation bordering on financial terrorism money laundering among others. The DSS reportedly approached a federal High Court in Abuja seeking the order for his arrest but the court refused to grant the order on a technical ground, barring other security agencies from arresting him.
Folashodun Shonubi Takes Over As Acting CBN Governor
Following the suspension of Godwin Emefiele as the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu on Friday, Folashodun Adebisi Shonubi has been named Acting Governor of the apex bank.
Emefiele was suspended in a statement issued by Mr. Wille Willie Bassey, the Director of Information, Office of the Secretary to the Government of Federation due to an ongoing investigation on his office and the planned reforms in the financial sector of the country.
Mr Shonubi who was the CBN Deputy Governor in charge of the operations before his appointment will complete Emefiele’s tenure as the head of the highest financial institution in the country pending the ongoing investigation on his former boss.
Having been appointed as the CBN Deputy Governor (Operations Directorate) on 17 October 2018, Mr Shonubi is an experienced banker who has been active in the financial sector for the past 30 years.
Born on March 7th, 1962, he attended the University of Lagos from 1978 to 1983 to obtain a bachelor of science in Mechanical Engineering, he also obtained his master’s degree in mechanical engineering from the same institution.
In 1988, Mr. Shonubi moved to the financial sector by obtaining a degree in business administration, specialising in finance. His working experience began as a consultant at Mek-ind Associates in 1984, he moved to become a Marketing Executive at inlaks computer limited.
Mr Shonubi also had a stint at Citibank Nigeria, serving as the Head of Operations from 1990 to 1993 before joining Agusto & Co. Ltd as a Supervising Consultant. He later joined MBC International Limited as Deputy General Manager, Banking Operations & Information Technology. In 2007 he became the Director, Information Technology and Corporate Services, Renaissance Securities Nigeria Limited.
Having garnered experience from different financial departments, Folashodun Shonubi joined Union Bank in 2009, taking up the role of an Executive Director, Operations,Technology and Services.
Before his appointment at the CBN in 2018, Shonubi was the Managing Director/CEO, Nigeria Inter-Bank Settlement System Plc from May 2012 to October 2018
