DSS Identifies Those To Be Interrogated With Emefiele

By Aisha Balogun

The Department of State Services (DSS) is set to interrogate others along with the suspended Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Godwin Emefiele.

Sources said that in a bid to further investigate Emefiele, the DSS on Tuesday is expected to obtain an order to keep him in their custody for as long as his interrogation will last.

A source that spoke on the development said that the DSS would likely approach a court to obtain an order to detain Emefiele for an indefinite period.

Recall that President Bola Tinubu on Friday suspended Emefiele from office with immediate effect.

Emefiele was suspended with a move to reform the financial sector of the economy.

This was stated in a statement released by the Director of Information, Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Willie Bassey.

Emefiele was directed to immediately hand over the affairs of his office to the Deputy Governor (Operations Directorate), Folashodun Adebisi Shonubi as the acting CBN Governor.

Thereafter, Emefiele was arrested in Lagos on Saturday by DSS operatives and flown to Abuja in a private jet.

A source in the DSS stated that, “He (Emefiele) is going to be with us for some time. We might obtain a court order to further detain him.

“The previous charges against him are there and further investigations may add to that. You know that he is a big man, and we have to make sure that the loose ends are tightened before we take him to court.

“Recall that we were looking for him before his suspension. Now that we have him, we will hear from him; hear what he has to say on those issues we have highlighted before.”

The source added that the DSS had assembled a team of crack interrogators to quiz Emefiele on wide-ranging issues, including alleged terrorism financing and mismanagement of the economy and the apex bank.

“We have a team of interrogators, who are going to quiz and obtain statements from him. We won’t bungle our case. But honestly, Nigerians need to know what happened and why we were looking for him the other time,” the source added.

A source that spoke on the matter also stated that other top directors of the CBN would be interrogated in the coming weeks as part of a comprehensive probe of Emefiele’s administration as directed by the President.

According to the source, the DSS would likely go after senior officials in the Procurement Department of the CBN as well as Special Advisers to the embattled governor.

A source stated, “one of those under the radar of the DSS is a Special Adviser to the suspended CBN governor.

“He retired from the CBN in 2021 as a director, but was retained by Emefiele as a Special Adviser. He is believed to have an inside knowledge of all the actions taken by Emefiele.

“Other subjects of interest are senior officials and Directors in the Procurement Department. The fact is that many top directors will be invited or arrested for questioning in the weeks ahead.”

It was noted that Emefiele, his aides and other top directors would be grilled on a number of issues relating to loans worth billions of naira given to farmers under the Fadama Scheme, which were believed to have been marred by fraud; the controversial sale of Polaris Bank, which was also allegedly fraught with irregularities; alleged financing of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB)by the suspended CBN boss, and other allegations bordering on forex fraud.

The CBN chiefs are also expected to answer tough questions on the apex bank’s fiscal policies, including the handling of the naira redesign policy, which led to the scarcity of naira notes and caused a nationwide economic crisis, resulting in riots, attacks on banks and death of some citizens.

Another source stated, “Their level of complicity will determine if they will retain their jobs or face prosecution at the end of the investigation.”