The Department of State Services (DSS), yesterday, confirmed arrest of the suspended Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Godwin Emefiele, who is now in its custody.
There were reports, yesterday, that the apex bank’s governor was arrested by the DSS on Friday night, which the security agency denied. But in a statement issued around 2:18 pm, yesterday, by the secret police, they confirmed that Emefiele had been arrested and was with them.
“The DSS hereby confirms that Mr. Godwin Emefiele, the suspended Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) is now in our custody for some investigative reasons.
“The public, particularly the media, is enjoined to apply utmost caution in the reportage and narratives concerning this,” spokesman of DSS, Dr. Peter Afunanya, said in the statement.
Meanwhile, some experts have advised that because of the failure of Emefiele, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu should appoint a development economist as the next governor of the apex bank.
The professionals recommended that such an economist must have a strong experience in international development finance and macroeconomics, believing that an economist will focus on using qualitative and quantitative measurements to make decisions on monetary policy.
They also recommended that the CBN should adopt IFRS as its accounting model for returning accounts at the end of the financial year, even as they urged the Presidency to order a forensic audit of the CBN, especially on the N8 trillion development finance loans that were allegedly misappropriated.
As the 10th National Assembly takes charge on Tuesday, the Senate needs to order a probe of how Ways and Means was spent in alleged violation of section 38 of the CBN Act of 2007 and subsequently amend the CBN Act to align with modern realities.
