THE GUARDIAN
• CBN, DSS downplay, dismiss Emefiele’s arrest saga as speculative
• Officials not in DSS custody, apex bank insists
• Adi: Integrity of system completely compromised
Normalcy may be returning to the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) after weeks of apprehension over the fate of the bank’s chief, Godwin Emefiele, findings by The Guardian, yesterday, suggested.
Officials who engaged with The Guardian said the bank was not bothered about speculations and outright fabrications that have seized the attention of the public in the past weeks while the governor was away on his yearly vacation.
An official said Emefiele, just like every other staff, has been working since his return and “everything is calm”. The official, who operates from the headquarters, said there was nothing to suggest that the governor was uncommonly disturbed.
Other sources at the bank and the Department of State Services (DSS) also downplayed the ordeal facing the CBN boss, describing the information in public space as speculations.
While Emefiele was away for vacation, reports said the DSS were awaiting his return to the country to execute a planned arrest. But since his return on Monday, ahead of the year’s first Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting, next week, there has, somewhat, been suspense on the matter.
There were reports on Monday of DSS officials taking over the premises of the CBN headquarters in Abuja for a possible arrest. This was followed by an online report claiming DSS operatives took top CBN and Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) officials to the Service’s headquarters, following their inability to arrest Emefiele for interrogation.
But the secret police swiftly dismissed the reported invasion as false.
“The attention of the DSS has been drawn to the false news making the round that its operatives invaded the CBN and arrested its governor. This is fake news and quite misleading,” a statement signed by the spokesman of the agency, Dr. Peter Afunanya, said.
Also, a CBN official, who spoke to The Guardian on condition of anonymity, said no official of the bank was grilled, adding that all senior staff were at their duty posts.
“It is unfortunate that the part-time job of some media houses is to manufacture fake news. The more unfortunate thing is that some mainstream media houses will also follow up on news items that do not have any facts. All our deputy governors are in their offices discharging their responsibilities,” the source said.
