The Department of State Service (DSS) said the embattled suspended Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Godwin Emefiele, has been charged to court.
This is in compliance with an Abuja High Court order of Thursday, July 13, 2023, instructing the Service to charge Emefiele to court within one week or set him free.
A statement issued by the DSS spokesman, Peter Afunanya, on Thursday evening confirmed the development.
“Sequel to an Abuja High Court Order of today, 13th July 2023, the Department of State Services (DSS) hereby confirms that Mr Godwin Emefiele has been charged to Court in compliance with the Order,” Afunanya disclosed.
He noted that “The public may recall that the Service had, in 2022, applied for a Court Order to detain him in respect of a criminal investigation. Though he obtained a restraining Order from an FCT High Court, the Service, however, arrested him in June, 2023, on the strength of suspected fresh criminal infractions/information, one of which forms the basis for his current prosecution.
The Service assured Nigerians that Emefiele’s case will be handled with the utmost professionalism, justice and fairness, vowing to continue to discharge its duties within the confines of the law.
This development comes over 30 days after Emefiele was suspended by President Bola Tinubu as CBN governor.
Tinubu, in a directive issued on June 9, 2023, ordered Emefiele to hand over the apex bank’s affairs to the Deputy Governor of Operations, Folashodun Shonubi, who has since been functioning in an acting capacity.
The following day, the DSS swooped in on the apex bank chief and took him into custody following his arrest at his Lagos residence where he was alleged to be planning to flee the country.
Emefiele has remained in the custody of the DSS since then fuelling complaints from some Nigerians asking that he be released or charged to court.
