Femi Falana, a human rights attorney and Senior Advocate of Nigeria, claims that Godwin Emefiele, the governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), has not returned to the nation as a result of accusations of supporting terrorism made against him by the Department of State Services (DSS).
Falana stated on Channels Television’s Sunday Politics, “I can say without any fear of disagreement that Mr. Godwin Emefiele is not in Nigeria; he hasn’t returned to the country because he has been proclaimed wanted by the state security forces.”
The DSS tried to have Emefiele arrested in an Abuja court for allegedly funding terrorism and committing economic crimes against national security, but Justice Maryam Hassan of the Federal Capital Territory High Court Abuja stopped them.
The judgement therefore prohibited the DSS from holding, inviting, or arresting Emefiele, describing the DSS’s accusations of terrorism against the CBN governor as vengeful, heartless, tyrannical, null, and of no force.
Falana, however, asserted on Sunday that if the DSS has substantial evidence against the CBN governor, it need not obtain a court warrant before making an arrest. Emefiele asked the DSS to go ahead with Emefiele’s arrest when he got to Nigeria. He pointed out that the head of the central bank is not one of the people in Nigeria who are legally protected from arrest.
The DSS’s accusations against Emefiele, according to Falana, are embarrassing and can only occur in a country like the Banana Republic, where the governor of the top bank gets charged with a serious crime like funding terrorism.
“Has the government considered the significant impact that a wanted central bank governor would have on the economy?”
The top attorney remarked, “I am very astounded that the President of the country has not intervened, either to call Mr. Emefiele to return to the country or be sacked.”
He remembered that Emefiele’s predecessor, Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, had been charged with funding terrorism in 2014 but had won the case.
These guys take advantage of the fact that we are all forgetful to play on our collective intelligence. Alhaji Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, the former Emir of Kano and Emefiele’s immediate predecessor, was charged with financing terrorism in 2014.
In a similar vein, Sanusi also left the nation to go to Niamey, Niger Republic, for a meeting with the governors of the central banks of West Africa.
Falana claimed that the man was detained and that his passport was taken as soon as he arrived in Lagos.
According to the senior lawyer, Sanusi won the case and the court gave him N50 million as compensation.
Falana stressed that the charge of financing terrorism against Emefiele should not be brushed off.
