Godwin Emefiele, a former Central Bank Governor has been re-arrested by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC few hours after he was reportedly released from the custody of the Department of State Services, DSS.
He had been in the DSS detention for approximately five months.
The former apex bank governor who has been in the custody of Nigeria’s secret police since June this year, was picked up by the operatives of the anti-graft agency to interrogate him over some financial scandal that took place while in office.
“We picked him up because of the financial impropriety that happened under his watch, for which the DSS cannot interrogate him. The DSS cannot do our own job,” a source in the commission said on Friday.
It was learned that his release from DSS custody was due to pressure on the federal government by some Nigerians who questioned his continued stay in custody after the court has ordered his release.
Moreso, the DSS, according to experts, can only question him on issues bordering on national security, instead of corruption allegation for which he has been held for five months.
That’s the job of the EFCC and ICPC as provided by the enabling Acts, the EFCC source stated.
Trajectory Of Emefiele’s Problems
On June 9, Emefiele was sacked from office by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
24 hours later, the DSS announced that Emefiele was in their custody for interrogation.
On July 13, a federal capital territory high court ordered the DSS to charge him to court or release him.
On July 25, the DSS arraigned him at a federal high court in Lagos on a two-count charge bordering on illegal possession of firearms. He was later granted N20 million bail.
The charges were struck out by the court on August 17 after the federal government withdrew the charges, he would later be slammed with a 20-count charge bordering on alleged procurement fraud.
The magazine reported last month that the former apex bank boss has entered into a plea bargain with the federal government to return N50 billion to the coffers of the government.
EFCC spokesman, Dele Oyewale, has yet to respond to the magazine’s enquiries whether Emefiele will be charged to the court soon.
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