Tunde Bakare, Serving Overseer of the Citadel Global Community Church has described the continuous detention of the suspended Central Bank Governor, Godwin Emefiele, and chairman Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFFC Rasheed Bawa, as a witch-hunt by the administration of President Bola Tinubu.
Emefiele and Bawa were removed from office no sooner than President Tinubu came to office on May 29, and have been remanded by the Department of State Services, DSS.
Not a few Nigerians have criticized the continued detention of the two former public officers without trial, demanding their release if the government have nothing against them.
Recall that Emefiele was granted bail by Justice Nicholas Oweibo of the federal high court, Lagos on July 24 after spending close to 50 days in DSS detention, but was forcefully taken into custody again by the DSS the same day in violation of the court order.
According to Bakare, the embattled CBN Governor may have abused his office in the management of Nigeria’s monetary policy, he must not be made a scapegoat by the Federal Government.
He stated that considering the provisions of the CBN Act 2007, there is every possibility that the erstwhile CBN governor did not act without presidential approval.
Emefiele should be prosecuted if found guilty of any crime, Bakare said, adding that events leading to the 2023 presidential election pointed to the direction of political vendetta against the suspended CBN governor by Tinubu.
On his part, Bawa has remained in DSS custody following his sack by President Tinubu and eventual arrest on June 14 by the secret police.
Speaking, Bakare said Tinubu’s corruption is targeted against perceived political enemies, wondering why Emefile and Bawa are being detained while a former governor of Zamfara state, Bello Matawalle who has been accused of massive corruption but now appointed a minister by the president.
Bakare said it’s wrong to detain Bawa while the former governor who’s under investigation by the EFCC has now been appointed into President Tinubu’s cabinet.
The EFCC is investigating Governor Matawalle over allegations of corruption, award of phantom contracts, and diversion of over N70 billion into his personal account.
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