SAHARA REPORTERS
The Department of State Services (DSS) on Monday interrogated the Deputy Governors of the Central Bank of Nigeria and officials of the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) who appeared before its operatives in Abuja, SaharaReporters has gathered.
SaharaReporters learnt on Tuesday that despite the inability of the DSS operatives to pick up the embattled CBN governor, Godwin Emefiele who returned to office on Monday, the DSS took other top CBN and FIRS officials to its headquarters and grilled them on sundry issues.
Authoritative sources familiar with the development disclosed to SaharaReporters that the officials “were hauled in a bus to the DSS headquarters where they were interrogated.”
SaharaReporters earlier today reported that the Chief of Defence Staff, Gen Lucky Irabor, deployed military personnel and intelligence officers to ensure Emefiele was not arrested by the DSS.
“Apparently the Chief of Defence Staff was the one that aided Emefiele to defy the DSS upon arrival. Irabor deployed the military police and intelligence to ensure Emefiele was not arrested,” a top source revealed on Tuesday morning.
Sources at the CBN had told SaharaReporters that the security personnel that accompanied Emefiele to the bank were larger than that of Nigeria’s president, Muhammadu Buhari.
“Emefiele has returned to Nigeria. He went to the CBN with massive security. He was given military protection. His security is bigger than that of the President,” another source had said in a terse message to SaharaReporters.
Meanwhile, SaharaReporters further gathered that the DSS interrogated several CBN and FIRS officials who alleged that Emefiele offered bribes to KPMG, an international audit firm, to ensure that audits were backdated in the wake of investigations around his office.
“After Emefiele’s arrival, the DG of DSS ordered all the Deputy Governors of CBN and FIRS to appear before the DSS. They were hauled in a bus to the DSS headquarters where they were interrogated,” an authoritative source revealed.
He added, “They confessed that Emefiele had been asking KPMG, an accounting firm to be backdating audits after offering them N600million bribe. KPMG officials interrogated also confessed to this.”
SaharaReporters last Thursday reported that the apex bank boss was still abroad, and afraid to set foot in Nigeria for fear of being arrested and detained by the secret police.
One of the sources had noted that the secret police were on alert and on the lookout for Emefiele. According to the source, the DSS would arrest Emefiele regardless of his antics and the recent court ruling.
Emefiele was part of President Muhammadu Buhari’s entourage to the US-Africa Leaders’ Summit in Washington DC between December 13 and 15, 2022.
While Buhari returned to Abuja a day after the summit, the CBN governor deliberately decided to delay his return to Nigeria.
Multiple sources last Friday told SaharaReporters some associates of President Muhammadu Buhari were leading the fight to stop the DSS from arresting Emefiele.
The President’s associates led by Mamman Daura, a nephew and close confidant of the President and Nasir El-Rufai, governor of Kaduna State were identified as standing strongly behind the CBN governor.
