THE Department of State Services (DSS) has debunked reports that its operatives today invaded the headquarters of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) in Abuja to arrest its governor, Godwin Emefiele.
Some online media publications (not The ICIR) had reported today that DSS operatives invaded Emefiele’s office, cordoned it off and prevented all CBN’s staff members from gaining access.
But a clarification statement issued by the DSS Public Relations Officer, Peter Afunanya, described the reports of the invasion as “fake and misleading.”
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Afunanya stated, “The attention of the Department of State Services (DSS) has been drawn to the false news making the round that its operatives invaded the Central Bank of Nigeria and arrested its Governor, today 16/1/23. This is fake news and quite misleading.”
Meanwhile, Emefiele has resumed duty today from his annual leave, amid the invasion rumour.
The apex bank’s Director of Communications, Osita Nwanisiobi, did not respond to messages sent to him by The ICIR seeking clarification on the reported invasion.
Nwanisiobi, however, issued an official press statement, which was posted on the apex bank’s twitter account, about the Governor resuming duty after his annual leave.
The statement read, “The Governor resumed with renewed vigour to perform his duty ahead of the first Monetary Policy Committee meeting scheduled for January 23 to 24, 2023.”
The statement noted that Emefiele remained committed to performing his duties in line with his oath of office and the policy direction of President Muhammadu Buhari.
“While thanking the public for keeping faith with the bank, we urge Nigerians to continue to support policies of the Bank aimed at ensuring a stable financial syatem and the Nigerian economy in Nigeria,” he stated.
Currently, the Nigerian government is caught in the web of taking decisions on debt restructuring as a result of the Central Bank of Nigeria’s lending beyond threshold to the Federal Government to the tune of N22. 7 trillion.
The Buhari administration will be leaving behind a massive debt of N77 trillion by May 29, with a large chunk of that arising from overlending to the Federal government by the CBN.
Also, Nigeria’s naira redesign is still faced with various forms of difficulties, with the redesigned currency of N200, N500, and N1000 poorly circulating despite the January 31, 2023 deadline.
There are also concerns of exchange rate problems with the business community and multilateral lending agencies – World Bank and the African Development Bank – complaining of the wide gap between the official and the parralel market rates.
Emefiele was last year reported to have picked the N100 million APC presidential primary nomination form, with various media outlets alleging he was a card-carrying member of the ruling party.
Harrison Edeh is a journalist with the International Centre for Investigative Reporting, always determined to drive advocacy for good governance through holding public officials and businesses accountable.