UPDATED: Suspended CBN Governor Godwin Emefiele not with us – DSS

By Michael Adesina

The Department of State States Services (DSS) on Saturday denied arresting the suspended Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Governor, Godwin Emefiele.

The DSS, in a tweet simply said: “Currently, Emefiele is not with the DSS.”

However, inside sources said the suspended CBN Governor left Abuja for Lagos immediately he was suspended by President Bola Tinubu on Friday.

A source said since the DSS was not permitted to arrest him, it could not arrest him before leaving Abuja.

PM NEWS had quoted The Street Journal late Friday as saying that Emefiele was arrested by the DSS shortly after he was suspended by Tinubu.

Also, several calls made to DSS spokesman on Friday were not answered.

According to the president, Emefiele was suspended due to the ongoing investigation of his office and the planned reforms in the financial sector of the economy.

Prior to Emefiele’s suspension, the DSS, on December 7, 2022, in an exparte application with reference no: FHC/ABJ/CS/2255/2022, sought an order to arrest the CBN Governor.

The security agency accused Emefiele of financing terrorism, fraudulent activities and economic crimes of national security dimension.

The Chief Judge of the Federal High Court, Justice J.T Tsoho, however, refused to grant the application of the DSS.

The court said such an application should have been accompanied with the presidential approval because of the grave implications for the Nigerian economy if the CBN governor is arrested and detained.