Emerging reports have revealed that Emefiele’s arrest is a precursor to the imminent purge of the top echelon of the apex bank, Sunday PUNCH has learnt.
It was gathered on Saturday that other top directors of the CBN would be interrogated in the coming weeks as part of a comprehensive probe of Emefiele’s administration as directed by the President.
Dependable sources said the secret police would likely go after senior officials in the procurement department of the CBN as well as special advisers to the embattled governor.
A source stated, “One of those under the radar of the DSS is a special adviser to the CBN governor.
“He retired from the CBN in 2021 as a director but was retained by Emefiele as a special adviser. He is believed to have an inside knowledge of all the actions taken by Emefiele.
“Other subjects of interest are senior officials and directors in the procurement department. The fact is that many top directors will be invited or arrested for questioning in the weeks ahead.”
One of our correspondents learnt that Emefiele, his aides and other top directors would be grilled on a number of issues relating to loans worth billions of naira given to farmers under the Fadama scheme, which were believed to have been marred by fraud; the controversial sale of Polaris Bank, which was also allegedly fraught with irregularities; alleged financing of the Indigenous People of Biafra by the suspended CBN boss, and other allegations bordering on forex fraud.
The CBN chiefs are also expected to answer tough questions on the apex bank’s fiscal policies, including the handling of the naira redesign policy, which led to the scarcity of naira notes and caused a nationwide economic crisis, resulting in riots, attacks on banks and death of some citizens.
“Their level of complicity will determine if they will retain their jobs or face prosecution at the end of investigation,” another source stated.
Earlier on Saturday, the spokesman of the DSS, Dr Peter Afunaya, confirmed that the suspended CBN governor was in the custody of the agency and would undergo interrogation.
He said in a statement, “The Department of State Services (DSS) hereby confirms that Mr Godwin Emefiele, the suspended Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) is now in its custody for some investigative reasons.
“The public, particularly the media, is enjoined to apply utmost caution in the reportage and narratives concerning this.”
This was a follow-up to an earlier statement by Afunaya in which he said Emefiele was not yet in the custody of the secret police
