The Department of State Services (DSS) has denied reports that it invaded the premises of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).
There were reports on Monday across News and social media platforms that the DSS stormed the CBN headquarters to arrest Emefiele over allegations of terrorism financing.
But in a statement issued by Peter Afunanya, DSS spokesperson, the agency debunked the claims.
“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,” the statement reads.
Godwin Emefiele has been in the news since last year when reports broke that the secret police were after him.
After failing to appear before the House of Representatives which summoned him over some policies of the bank, CBN announced that its governor was out of the country.
During his time away, there had been concerns over his whereabouts, especially after reports that the DSS had approached a federal high court in Abuja seeking a warrant to arrest him over alleged terrorism financing.
In declining the ex parte motion — usually filed by an applicant in the absence of the respondent — John Tsoho, the chief judge, said the DSS did not provide concrete evidence to substantiate its claims.
Also, a federal capital territory (FCT) high court sitting in Maitama later issued an order restraining the DSS from arresting the CBN governor.
There are speculations that the bid to arrest Emefiele might be political, given the impact the redesign of the naira and limit on cash withdrawals might have on vote-buying in the elections.
Comments are closed.