A former president of the Nigerian Bar Association, NBA, Olisa Agbakoba, has said the involvement of Department of State Services, DSS, in the ordeal of suspended Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, Godwin Emefiele, is shocking.
Agbakoba questioned what role the DSS would play in Emefiele’s arrest, adding that their role involves security of the country and not monetary and fiscal challenges.
The DSS had earlier on Saturday confirmed that Emefiele was currently in its custody.
Reports of Emefiele’s arrest had emerged shortly after he was suspended by President Bola Tinubu on Friday.
Emefiele was suspended “sequel to the ongoing investigation of his office and the planned reforms in the financial sector of the economy”, according to a release by the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, George Akume.
Tinubu also appointed Mr Folashodun Adebisi Shonubi as the acting governor of the CBN.
Reacting to the developments, Agbakoba, in a statement on Saturday, noted that the suspension of Emefiele as the CBN Governor was not a surprise.
The statement read, “The suspension of the Governor of the CBN from office is not a surprise as his tenure was way beyond monetary policy.
“But confirmation by DSS that Governor Emefiele is in its custody comes as a shock.
“The statutory role of DSS is internal security and I shudder to think what role DSS will play in this matter? The rule of law says it all can the relevant agency responsible for Governor Emefiele step forward, but this excludes the DSS unless this has security implications.”
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