PRESIDENT Bola Tinubu says the Central Bank governor, Godwin Emefiele, was suspended due to corrupt activities in the financial sector.
Tinubu said this on Friday, June 24, while speaking at an interactive session with Nigerians residing in France.
The President stated that the country’s financial system was “rotten” under Emefiele.
The ICIR had reported how Tinubu had ordered the suspension of Emefiele as CBN governor.
According to the office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Emefiele was suspended due to an ongoing investigation into the bank and the planned reforms in the financial sector.
The suspension letter directed Emefiele to immediately hand over the affairs of his office to the CBN Deputy Governor (Operations Directorate), who would act as governor pending the conclusion of investigation into his office and reform of the financial sector.
Speaking on the suspension, Tinubu said many Nigerians living outside the country could not send money to their parents and relatives due to the multiple exchange rates while Emefiele was governor.
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“Then, the financial system was rotten. Few people made bags of money, and then you, yourself, stopped sending money home to our poor parents. Several windows. But that is gone now.
“The man is in the hands of the authorities. Something is being done about that. They will sort themselves out,” he said.
Shortly after Emefiele’s suspension, the Department of State Services (DSS) confirmed his arrest.
According to the DSS, he was being held under an order of a competent court.
It said the arrest was “upon reasonable suspicion of committing acts which constitute a criminal breach of trust, incitement to violence, criminal misappropriation of public funds, economic sabotage, economic crimes of national security dimension, and undermining the security of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.”
Beloved John is an investigative reporter with International Centre for Investigative Reporting.
You can reach her via: Bjohn@icirnigeria.org