Legislators and the Department of State Services, or DSS, have been warned by economic experts not to do anything to make Nigeria’s economy even more unstable because of the supposed terrorist accusations made against Godwin Emefiele, the governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria.
The Coalition of National Interest Defenders said on Monday that the DSS was making plans in front of the media to take the governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria into custody and get rid of him.
At a press conference in Abuja, Tochukwu Ohazurike, who is in charge of the coalition, made the claim.
The group said that the DSS brought a case against Emefiele to the Federal High Court in Abuja, accusing him of giving money to terrorists.
In response to the rumors going around in the media, the country’s secret service said it would keep doing what it was supposed to do.
“While doing its job professionally, the DSS promises to stay on track and fair. It will not give in to propaganda, threats, or the desperation of people who are paid to hurt it. It also won’t let lies and tricks be used to mislead the public about important national issues, said Dr. Peter Afunanya, a spokesman for the DSS, in a statement to the DAILY POST.
At the same time, a large group of protesters with signs took to the streets of Abuja to call for the DSS Director General, Mr. Yusuf Bichi, to be fired.
The DSS is following a script about Emefiele’s dismissal—Idakolo
In a chat on Monday, Mr. Idakolo Gbolade, an expert on financial inclusion and wealth management, said that if the allegation is true, the DSS’s move is political.
He said that the secret service is following a script to go after Emefiele for what they think are his recent anti-establishment monetary policies.
“If the alleged plan to arrest someone turns out to be true, it can be assumed that it was done for political reasons. I want to believe it is not valid.
“However, it looks like the National Assembly and political parties are against the withdrawal limit based on how they act. In the past few months, the CBN’s policies on the redesign of the Naira, withdrawal limits, etc. have been seen as a way to go after political moneybags who have saved up enough cash for the upcoming elections. This will make their plans very difficult. From an economic point of view, these policies are needed to keep our elections fair and protect the economy.
“If the group’s claim is true, then the DSS will be following a script, since the CBN policy could affect most of the money the DSS seized,” he said.
Emefiele could get the same treatment as Magu if Buhari doesn’t do anything – Prof. Oyedokun
Prof. Godwin Oyedokun, who teaches accounting and financial development at Lead City University in Ibadan, said that it is hard to fight fraud without fraud fighting back.
He was afraid that what happened to Mr. Ibrahim Magu, the former head of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), and others could happen to Emefiele if President Muhammadu Buhari doesn’t do anything about it.
Oyedokun was sad that Nigerians no longer care about the problems that happen every day with Buhari’s government. This has been going on for seven years.
“It will be hard to fight fraud in Nigeria without it fighting back. I’m not saying that the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Godwin Emefiele, is innocent if he did something wrong. However, the President and, by extension, the Nigerian people agree with the policy he has been following.
“In this country, we have to be very careful, especially about how politics are played. The President shouldn’t be on the fence about this. The same thing happened to Ibrahim Magu, the former head of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, and Idris Ahmed, the Accountant General of the Federation.
“Nigerians no longer care about the daily problems with the government; their actions will show in the next election,” he said.
It’s a shame to see Buhari’s men fighting with each other – Adebayo
Prince Adewole Adebayo, the presidential candidate for the Social Democratic Party, looked down on Buhari’s team’s constant fighting among themselves.
“The craziest and most dangerous thing I’ve seen is how CBN Governor Godwin Emefiele is now involved in politics instead of paying close attention to monetary policies. The Coalition’s ongoing showy press conference gives the impression that the President’s team has gotten into a fight with itself.
“I haven’t said this because I’m happy about it, but because I’m sad about it: President Muhammadu Buhari watches as his presidency becomes a stage for kids who don’t deserve to be in office and people who don’t deserve to be in the crowd. Now, groups of lazy people who have eaten too much are dancing naked in front of Nigerians who are hungry.
“Nigerians can now see for themselves what we have always said: Nigerians are poor and unsafe. This isn’t because our hunger and safety problems are hard to solve, but because there isn’t a proper government working on the official agenda. “Buhari is in charge of a jungle where rival gangs are out for their own money,” he wrote on Monday on his official Twitter account.
When DAILY POST asked CBN’s Director of Corporate Communications, Nwanisobi Osita, to comment on the situation, he said that he heard the news the same way that everyone else in Nigeria did: from the media.
He said, “I heard it the same way you did, and I’m not saying it’s not true.”
He refused to say anything else about the matter.
133 million Nigerians are struggling with multidimensional poverty right now. They have to deal with 21.47 percent inflation, a falling Gross Domestic Product growth rate, and a lack of safety.
Analysts think that the current situation could make things worse.
